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For most of the season, Kobe Bryant made a point of noting the Lakers were a championship caliber team, but working with very little margin for error.

In the playoffs, an important chunk of it went away with the disappearance of Matt Barnes. The team's most consistent bench presence throughout the season, Barnes was playing some of the best basketball of his career down the stretch, averaging 8.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 3.2 assists over 26.8 minutes in 13 April games before suffering a sprained ankle against Oklahoma City in the second-to-last regular season game.

He never recovered. Barnes' playoff averages plummeted to 3.5 points on a terrifying 27.1 percent mark from the floor, including only 16.1 percent from downtown. Things were so bad, Mike Brown sat him entirely in Monday's Game 5 loss. Wednesday in El Segundo, Barnes admitted he wasn't fully healthy in either playoff series, and it wasn't just the bum ankle.

"What I tell you now isn’t going to be used as an excuse by any means, because I’m not like that, but the ankle didn’t heal and then I did something to my neck where I had to take some shots to even move my neck," Barnes said. "It’s still sore, but the way I look at it is you’re hard pressed to find anybody at this point in the season that’s healthy. So you can never use that [as an excuse]."

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MORE EXIT INTERVIEWS:

• Ramon Sessions
• Jordan Hill
• Metta World Peace

Second year forward Devin Ebanks began the year as the starting small forward, playing 81 minutes in the first four games before Mike Brown replaced him in the first five with Matt Barnes.

Over the next 52 games, Ebanks logged a total of 73 minutes before a shin injury to Kobe Bryant and Metta World Peace's suspension put him back in the starting lineup for the last 10 regular season games and the first six against Denver in the opening round of the playoffs. In the first five games after World Peace's return, Ebanks played a total of four minutes. Monday night in Game 5, Ebanks served as the backup 3 over a slumping Barnes, playing 16 minutes.

Fair to say Ebanks rode the playing time roller coaster this year, a difficult thing for young players.

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When Jordan Hill arrived in L.A. as part of the Derek Fisher trade, his role was pretty clear, in the sense it didn't exist. Beyond a knee injury suffered shortly after getting his new uni, Mike Brown was committed to Josh McRoberts as the primary reserve big, with Troy Murphy getting occasional minutes as a situational lefty spreading the floor. Hill is undoubtedly more athletic than either guys and his credentials as a rebounder had been established. However, he's also young, fairly raw, and carries a reputation for mistakes on the court. And such players often don't crack the rotation as a late-addition to a team seeking a title.

But there are always exceptions to the rule. Phil Jackson, for example, threw Shannon Brown unexpectedly into the fire right before the 2009 championship run. And after an April 20 blowout loss in San Antonio, Brown decided a change was needed. Thu, he called Hill at 2 am to inform the kid he'd finally be getting some run. That PT resulted in a 14 point, 15 rebound double-double against OKC, along with a job for Hill. His playoff showing was the roller coaster one might expect from a role player with no postseason experience and still honing his craft. In a nutshell, Hill was all over the map. But he averaged 6.4 rebounds per contest in less than 20 minutes, and save starter-in-6th man's-clothing Lamar Odom, Hill's the best 4/5 off the Laker bench since Ronny Turiaf.

I wouldn't be surprised if the team was interested in retaining the impending free agent's services, and if that's the case, the feeling is mutual.

"Yeah, it's definitely one of, if not the best organizations in the league and I had great time here, with the short time I was here," said Hill during his exit interview. "The staff, players, everybody. I just enjoyed it.

"I just never thought I would be in this position, with the Lakers. All-Stars. Champions. Back-to-back championships. Different championships. I just wanted to go out there and if I get my opportunity, just take advantage of it. Just being around those guys, it was definitely a great feeling. Just having fun. Jokes. Hanging out. You feel like you can be a kid again, off the court. It was definitely a great feeling. I'm definitely forward to, if possible, more to come."

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After Monday's loss in Game 5 against the Thunder, the Lakers enter the offseason with plenty of questions. In the video below, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Mike Brown, and Metta World Peace comment on the season just finished, and what might be coming.

For more quick hitting post-elimination reaction, check out today's 5-on-5, which actually includes six analysts (of which I am one). Because when the Lakers go down, five just won't do.

So here's the last play from Wednesday's loss (fast forward to about 56 seconds in):



You'll notice (notice again, I'm sure) it was Steve Blake taking the shot, not Kobe Bryant. Any time something like this happens, there will be discussion. Via ESPN Stats and Information, Blake hadn't attempted a game-tying or go-ahead shot in the final 24 seconds of a postseason games since joining the Lakers, and has only one in his career (with Portland in '09, a miss). At the same time, S and I provides this nugget as well:

While conventional wisdom says Kobe Bryant should've had the ball in his hands for the Lakers' final shot instead of Steve Blake, the stats say it was the right decision. Kobe Bryant is 0-for-7 on game-tying and go-ahead shots in the final 10 seconds of playoff games since 2006-07. Meanwhile, his teammates are 4-for-7, including Blake's miss on Wednesday.

Honestly, it's not a stat with heaps of meaning, at least in the implication other players are better suited to take late shots than Kobe. Don't focus on the 4-for-7 part. At least two of those (Ron Artest in Game 5 vs. Phoenix, 2010 and Pau Gasol in Game 6 vs. OKC, 2010) came on ORB/putbacks, as opposed to designed plays or kicks from Kobe. Meanwhile, Bryant's percentage is low mostly because he usually takes very difficult shots in those situations, a different (and totally valid) discussion entirely. The issue relative to the final shot Wednesday isn't whether Bryant is clutch or not, or whether someone else is clutch-er. What matters is shot quality, and if Blake's was as good or better than the one Kobe would have taken had Metta World Peace instead inbounded the ball to him.

Here, I see little room for debate. Assuming the ball even made it to him-- MWP would have had to throw a difficult pass to Bryant over the top of OKC's quick, ball-hawking defense -- it appears Kobe would have caught the ball with only five seconds left and a defender in position to contest. Probably Serge Ibaka on a switch, with Thabo Sefolosha closing fast. He didn't appear to me, as Mike Brown suggested after, "wide open on the backside." Maybe Kobe can create a little space, or has enough time to make a pass out of what almost certainly would have been a tough double team.

It's very difficult to see how either scenario would have produced a higher percentage look than an uncontested corner 3. The idea isn't to get Kobe the ball because he's "supposed" to take the shot, but to get the best shot possible. World Peace's job was to make that happen, and he did. It didn't work out the way the Lakers wanted, but they did get as good a shot as could be hoped.

To some degree, there's only so much players can say about a Game 7, given the general lack of nuance to the situation. Win, or the season's over.

For the Lakers, coming off weak efforts in Games 5 and 6, the winning formula isn't a huge mystery. At the very least, it starts with matching Denver's effort and energy. From there, the other considerations come into play. Hitting outside shots. Continuity in pick and roll defense. Finding creases in the paint, despite the flood of bodies Denver sends.

At least Kobe Bryant isn't tossing cookies any longer. His health, he said Friday, has improved. "They’ve been a tough couple days, but I’m feeling a lot better now," he said. Obviously good news, because the stakes in Saturday's game are large. Nervous hours for Lakers fans, maybe, but not for Kobe. "They’re fun," he said of Game 7's. "They’re fun games. Every possession counts even more so. There’s a lot of energy in the building and teams play with a sense of desperation on every single possession. It’s a fun game to be a part of."

Bryant also talked about getting Metta World Peace back in the lineup, and his comments following Thursday's loss that MWP is the only guy he can rely on to compete, play hard, and with urgency "night in and night out," along with the message he's delivering to Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum :



Click below for more video from this afternoon, from Mike Brown, Bynum, and Gasol.

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Lakers forward Metta World Peace was supposed to appear on The Conan O'Brien Show back on April 23rd. For those without a calendar in front of them, that was one night after this.

Needless to say, a little rescheduling was required.

Monday night, MWP fulfilled his talk show commitment, sitting down with O'Brien. He talked about the play, and that he still hasn't spoken to James Harden personally. The latter will be a point of conversation, but isn't really anything new. The reasoning -- he doesn't want to talk to guys he might see in the playoffs -- makes enough sense, and World Peace did reach out through a third party to check on Harden's health. Asked if he thought the suspension was fair, Metta punted ("I really have no thoughts on the punishment") but did lob a few grenades at former players and media, as he did when he went on a (quickly deleted) Twitter jag after the NBA handed down the suspension.

All in all, it was pretty tame by MWP's previously established evening talk show standards. Not simply because he left his clothes on, either.

A few themes played prominent Monday afternoon after the Lakers finished practice in El Segundo. Trust was a big theme, looking back at the final minute of Sunday's Game 4 win in Denver. Mike Brown talked about the play of L.A.'s small forwards in the absence of Metta World Peace, as well as the work Andrew Bynum did last night.

More than anything, though, the Lakers talked about ending the series Tuesday night in Game 5. Don't screw around, don't give the Nuggets life, don't add wear to the collective tread. (And should anyone think the Lakers might intentionally look to toss Game 5 so that World Peace might be eligible for Game 1 of the next round, please stop. A) It's a horrible idea. B) Asked about it this afternoon, Brown thought the reporter was joking.)

Here are all the moving pictures from Thursday ...

Kobe Bryant, on showing trust in his teammates late in Sunday's game, adjusting to officiating, and the nature of closeout games:

Bryant, on pick and roll execution, and some interesting comments on why having stars matters late in games. "It's not really about having one guy, it's about having somebody that's going to demand double teams and free everybody up. That's really what it's about. We have three."

Click below for more video from Brown and Bynum...

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Andrew Bynum was the subject of much conversation Thursday in El Segundo, but wasn't the only topic. Other things came up, too, from the play of Pau Gasol to conversations about altitude ahead of Game 3 to what appears the best way to bond with Kobe Bryant -- Go to an All-Star Game with him as a teammate. Whether Gasol or Bynum, it seems to do the trick.

Here's the all the video from today, starting with Bryant:

Bynum, on Games 1 and 2, what he's learned from Kobe, why their chemistry is better on the floor -- development of his skills allowing him to do more on the court, he says -- and Gasol.

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Tuesday's Game 2 against the Denver Nuggets was a lot tighter than Sunday's Game 1, but the end result was the same. The Lakers win, and in the process take a commanding 2-0 lead heading into Friday's Game 3 at the Pepsi Center.

In what technically should have been called Lakers Early Morning, we break down the win focusing on the following:

• A monster game from Kobe Bryant. 38 points, four rebounds, two assists, three steals, and a block. Bryant was particularly hot early, hitting nine of his 12 hoists in the first half, despite some decent defense from the Nuggets who forced him into plenty of contested or lower percentage looks. But as the old saying goes, "Sometimes Kobe Bryant is better than you." Add in some huge defensive plays in the second half (a chasedown block on Al Harrington, plus a key steal late in the fourth) and it was a big night for Kobe.
• Strong play from Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol. We look at the role Pau has played through the season and the first two playoff games, and why it's so important.
• What changed from Game 1 to Game 2, and our thoughts on the series going forward.

All that and more!



Click below for video from Kobe, Gasol, Mike Brown, Devin Ebanks, and Ramon Sessions ...

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It's been a busy day on the blog. To recap, we looked at...

• The discipline shown by the Lakers in their Game 1 win Sunday afternoon.
• The pressure on Mike Brown to perform well in his first playoffs with the Lakers.
• Assault charges filed against Jordan Hill, who said Monday he expects to play in Tuesday's Game 2.

Dave McMenamin passed along reaction Monday's reaction from El Segundo to the incredible comeback for the Clippers Sunday night in Memphis, along with Mike Brown's comments regarding George Karl's assertion he saw "about 30" instances of illegal defense from the Lakers in Sunday's game.

As for the rest of practice...

Among the more underplayed positives of Andrew Bynum's dominant Game 1 came on the offensive end, where he had only one turnover despite multiple touches against near constant double teams. While Bynum improved against extra attention during the season, he was still fairly prone to miscues. Not Sunday. Brown attributed Bynum's near-pristine performance to a better understanding of what Denver would send at him. "[For the playoffs], we've broken down what Denver does. We've walked through it. We showed tape, we walked through it again. We showed tape again. Then we scripted it, and then we walked through it. So he has a better feel of what they're doing, and where they're coming from," he said.

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The big event at today's practice in El Segundo was obviously Metta World Peace addressing the media with his seven game suspension now official. For the most part, his comments were fairly uneventful. Apologies were offered again to the Thunder and James Harden, whose health MWP inquired about through "a friend." Metta maintained the incident was an accident, and said he wasn't even aware it was specifically Harden on the receiving end. Regret was also expressed at being banned from the court at a time when his game feels unstoppable. It's worth noting, however, Metta pretty clearly thinks the suspension was too punitive. He didn't come out and say it, and attempted to take the high road when asked about the fairness at play. However, a windtalker isn't required to break this particular code.

"I just don't want to make an excuse. At this point, for the Laker fans, I should really say what's on my mind. I should say what's on my mind for the Laker fans. But I don't want to make any excuses. There's only two things that matter. One thing that matters is winning. In basketball, there's just wins and losses. So there's no time for excuses.

"If I start talking about that, I'm going to open myself up for excuses and I'm not one to give excuses. So, it's hard for me to speak about the (amount of) games (I was suspended)."

Like I said, you do the math. Or read MWP's Tweets sent -- and later deleted -- that afternoon. Whichever is easiest.

Beyond that, Mike Brown expressed some concern about Matt Barnes being available for Game 1 of the playoffs. Barnes sprained his right ankle Sunday against the Thunder and won't be making the trip to Sacramento for the final game of the season. "My guess is as good as yours, because I haven't asked Gary [Vitti]," admitted Brown. I think so, but really, I'm just taking a coin and flipping a coin. I don't know."

In the meantime, Brown plans to rest some starters, considering the third seed is now a stone cold lock. Who'll sit and who'll play hasn't been decided yet, and the players themselves will get a vote. (For what it's worth, Andrew Bynum is fine both playing or taking the night off.) Either way, expect a healthy dose of Andrew Goudelock, Darius Morris and Christian Eyenga(!), who was activated today from the D-Fenders. Brown admittedly knows very little about the Congolese product's game, but in an odd bit of coincidence, coached the kid as a teenager during a Basketball Without Borders camp in Africa.

Holy full circle, Batman!

Metta World Peace on his suspension

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It wasn't always pretty -- actually, it rarely was -- but the Lakers nonetheless pulled out a 112-108 overtime win over the Dallas Mavericks Sunday afternoon at Staples. The team hunkered down and ragained control of the contest after a sluggish start, and consistent with their victorious ways short Kobe Bryant, a group effort ruled the day. Andrew Bynum (playing with an upper-respiratory illness), Pau Gasol, Matt Barnes, Metta World Peace and Ramon Sessions all reached double figures. Defensively, everyone who stepped on the floor chipped in his two cents. As a team, they clamped down in the second half (44 points allowed in Q's three and four) and kept the Mavs off the line.

We hit on their strong games, and more, including how the Lakers managed to win when three big cogs (Gasol, Bynum, and MWP) weren't models of efficiency, what happens when Bryant returns, and whether the Lakers are actually peaking heading into the postseason. If so, who gets the credit?



Good clips in the show from Mike Brown and Gasol. Click below for more from the head coach, Gasol, and Ramon Sessions.

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Before the game, the Lakers were introduced to Allene Wynn, a 105 year old Lakers fan. Kobe Bryant promised he'd go out and put on a show for her, and he did... though I'm not sure it was the one he intended. Still, it had a happy ending, because though Bryant missed 18 of his first 20 shots, 21 was all net.

Lakers win 88-85 over a bunch of guys wearing New Orleans Hornets uniforms, in a wholly unsatisfying 48 minutes of Saturday afternoon basketball. What followed, however, was a wholly satisfying 21 minutes of Lakers Late Night, in which we talked at length about...

• Another in a recent stretch of rocky games for a team whose home record isn't quite as good as it appears. Mike Brown indicated after he thought the win was a testament to team grit and determination. We respectfully disagree.
• Kobe's shot selection wasn't bad... so why did he miss so much? Fatigue is as good a guess as any (especially since he said as much after the game). We dissect Brown's postgame comments on the topic, plus ask what can be done to solve the problem.
• A great clip shot after the game referencing the game winner -- see below -- in which Bryant almost perfectly articulates over about 55 seconds the world view making him who he is, from the undeniably brilliant to the periodically frustrating.

Bryant, on the game winner, and his outlook on basketball, competition, and more:


More below from Kobe, and Mike Brown.

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In the newest edition of The Forum, 710 ESPN's Dave Miller joins us as we look at the dynamic between Mike Brown and his roster.