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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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For the second straight season, the Los Angeles Lakers have been bounced in the second round of the NBA playoffs. Not cause for panic in many markets, but in Los Angeles, where expectations are always stratospheric and Kobe Bryant is far closer to the end than the beginning of his career, it's enough to sound the doomsday horn. The end of a season is (almost) always a disappointing time, but usually comes with a tinge of wait-'til-next-year optimism. To that end, while the goal is not to add insult to Thunder-induced injury, people deserve candor:

I have no idea how the Lakers quickly return to a championship level.

Not to say I don't know what they need -- the needs are pretty apparent, and not a whole lot different than the ones from last offseason -- just that I don't know how they get it. Change, likely significant, must come, but unfortunately while the Lakers may be rich in the literal sense, as it relates to assets available to reconstruct a team, they're relative paupers:

• The Lakers lack young prospects not already integral to the team's success, have no quality draft picks, or easily moved talent bringing comparable talent in return.
• Well over the salary-cap and luxury-tax thresholds, the Lakers have limited tools -- a mini mid-level exemption worth a little more than $3 million, basically -- available in a market thin on quality unrestricted free agents. (Most restricted FA's won't be an option, because L.A. can't offer a contract large enough to dissuade a rights-holding team from matching.)
• After next season, the CBA's new SuperTax! kicks in, which at current levels could cost the Lakers tens of millions of dollars.

Good players cost money. The Lakers need more of them at a time when the prevailing pressure is to bring payroll down not up, or at the very least have a rock-solid plan to do so in the very near future.

Enjoy the summer, Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss!

Having spent years kicking the can down the road in an effort to build a winner, for which management should be applauded, the box in which the Lakers placed themselves in the process has grown incredibly tight. They're still a good team, but one that just lost to a better team. No shame in that, except the standards in L.A. don't tolerate this sort of thing for very long. Moreover, the Lakers are on the way down, while the competition around them is rising. Oklahoma City is a juggernaut. Memphis, despite the early exit from the postseason, is a team with upside, as are the Clippers. A healthy Denver team is a threat. They're feeling good about the future in Utah, too, and is there any reason to believe San Antonio won't again be awesome next year?

This is the context of what could very well be a transformative, challenging and potentially fascinating offseason.

Here are eight questions facing the Lakers' front office as the summer rolls on ...

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With their backs against the wall, it's obvious what the Lakers must do to send this series back to L.A.: Play near-perfect basketball against a team that's not only more talented, but better at closing tight contests. Nothing less will likely get the job done, especially in the Thunder's insanely loud building. The confidence of fans, based on the LO'L chatter, appears low, but what actually matters is the confidence of Lakers players. We'll get an idea of their collective belief -- and what that's worth -- soon enough.

For a look ahead to Game 5, we had an IM conversation with Royce Young, who covers the Thunder for the TrueHoop network's Daily Thunder blog. Below is the transcript.

Andy Kamenetzky: What stood out most to you in the Thunder comeback/Lakers collapse?

Royce Young: The obvious thing people want to point out is Kobe Bryant's shot selection the final few minutes, but what stuck out to me was Russell Westbrook. He's been steadily improving at sensing his moments, where he can separate from Kevin Durant, and he picked an outstanding place in Game 4. He did the heavy lifting, and Durant carried them across the finish line. But like I said, it seems Kobe-ball had a lot of people talking.

AK: I watched the fourth quarter again, and there were definitely possessions where he went into "head down/Mamba/iso" mode and most weren't terribly fruitful. But Metta World Peace and Steve Blake also over-dribbled some possessions. Andrew Bynum was getting fronted, and as a team, they adjusted poorly. In the meantime, the Lakers' D went to pot.

Oh, and the mother of all bad turnovers from Pau Gasol!

It was just horrible execution on both sides of the ball, and OKC capitalized.

RY: One thing that's really hit home is just how fragile a playoff game can be. Each possession is priceless. The Thunder have valued the ball more than ever, and have approached games with a crazy amount of focus. Down seven, down 13, they see it as just pressing on and not letting up until the clock officially runs out. Whether that's just the natural evolution of maturity, or a voice in the locker room like Derek Fisher, the team doesn't lose focus even when times are tough.

Brian Kamenetzky: Still, the Lakers have played three straight competitive games. Royce, do you see in those any reason for Thunder fans to worry?

RY: To be frank, no. The Lakers are in a position where they need to win three straight, two of those games in Oklahoma City, and the Lakers weren't a strong road team this season. It's obvious not much separates the teams, but the Thunder are deeper and more talented than the Lakers. Unless they get tight and anxious about closing, they should handle their business.

Some are probably thinking about Game 4 in Dallas last season for the Lakers. Is this team different, or could they be headed toward a clunker in Game 5?

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The Lakers got off to a great start, but from there Friday's game turned into a slugfest. In the end, though, they came out on top, effectively saving the season and giving them a chance to knot up the series Saturday night.

We broke it all down on Lakers Late Night with special guests Arash Markazi and Dave McMenamin!



Click below for all the postgame moving pictures, from Pau Gasol, Kobe Bryant, Mike Brown, Andrew Bynum, Ramon Sessions, and Steve Blake.

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Because, you know, a 29-point drubbing by definition means you can never tweak too many things. Yesterday, Brian offered several areas in need of drastic improvement. I thought I'd add my two cents with four more suggestions. (Sadly, we likely still didn't cover everything. But hey, we only had 48 hours between Games 1 and 2, and both needed to sleep a bit.)

1) Get the ball up the court faster to initiate the offense earlier
During the era of "Derek Fisher and Lamar Odom bringing the ball up so Kobe doesn't have to do everything," a turtle with a decent handle might have taken the place of either without anybody noticing. Whether because the directive to slow tempo was taken too literally, or because Fisher's declining speed and LO's generally laid back style, it felt like the court was covered in molasses. Eight second violations were regularly flirted with, and precious time was frittered away over the entire 24 seconds. As a result, someone was often forced to take a bad shot.

Mike Brown arrived in L.A. with the stated goal of getting into sets faster, and with Ramon Sessions eventually in the fold, that objective should have become even easier. However, slow migration end-to-end remains a habit, particularly Monday in Game 1, and it's a habit in need of immediate breaking. I'm not calling for a radically pushed tempo. The Lakers don't have the personnel to live in transition, and getting into a foot race with the Thunder is a losing proposition. This is simply a matter of milking possessions for their maximum opportunities. Any early deep position gained by Andrew Bynum or Pau Gasol gets negated if they're watching the ball handler meander upcourt for 3 seconds while a defender pushes them off a spot. The Thunder's defense is being far too much time to set in general. And should any of Game 1's offensive confusion bleed into Wednesday's proceedings, an extra four or five seconds to sort through the mess could go a long way towards salvaging possessions.

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That the Lakers failed to close out Denver on Tuesday wasn't horrible in and of itself, but the reason for failure certainly was. It's one thing to get outplayed, especially by a quality team desperate to stay alive. Getting outworked, however, is another story. The Lakers' inability to match the Nuggets' energy, intensity and desire was inexcusable, and as Brian noted, costly on a practical level. Still, what's done is done, and now is the time to make lemonade from lemons. The Lakers get two more cracks to wrap this up, but success on the first try equals that much less energy expended before battling the Thunder. The task won't be easy, especially in Denver. But it's doable, assuming the Lakers are willing to focus, execute and work enough.

For more thoughts on Game 6 (Thursday, 7:30 p.m. PT), I had an IM exchange with Kalen Deremo from the True Hoop network's Roundball Mining Company. Below is the transcript.

Andy Kamenetzky: Heading into Game 5, you weren't sure how this inconsistent Nuggets team would react to an elimination scenario. What did you make of the way they played?

Kalen Deremo: Shocked. Well, maybe not shocked, but thoroughly (and pleasantly!) surprised. For years, this team has exited the playoffs in embarrassing fashion. Tuesday, they played with heart, soul and passion. For once it looked like they actually cared about showing pride in the playoffs. What was your reaction?

AK: In the meantime, Denver continues to improve as the series progresses, certainly more than the Lakers.

KD: That performance was probably the Nuggets' best in the playoffs since 2009, when they reached the Western Conference finals. I think no matter what team they were playing, the Nuggets were gonna give it their all. What I want to know is what happened to Pau Gasol? Andrew Bynum and Kobe Bryant have showed up for the most part, but Pau just seems invisible.

AK: In fairness to Pau, he's been asked to facilitate more than score, and his passing has been very effective. Nuggets coach George Karl has even cited Gasol as a weapon hurting them in this respect. However, his rebounding numbers are down a bit from the regular season, problematic in a series where Denver's control of the glass makes or breaks L.A. His defense around the rim has also been erratic. And like Bynum, he was pretty MIA for most of Game 5.

In the meantime, JaVale McGee! Have you ever seen a player improve more over a series?

Kalen: McGee, man, I don't even know what to say. Seeing a 7-footer operate like a champ in the post, seeing his pure physical attributes dominate his counterpart, is a sight to behold. The Nuggets haven't had that type of center since Dikembe Mutombo, although Marcus Camby was nice defensively. Wow, I'm just getting way ahead of myself. Yeah, McGee was just unreal. It's so nice to see his maturation with the Nuggets. The guy has so much talent and potential. Seeing him discover it during a time like this is beautiful for Nuggets fans.

Do you think he could even end up outplaying Bynum two games in a row?

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The Nuggets played Game 5 like their season depended on it (can't imagine why) and the Lakers played like they wanted one more view of the Rocky Mountains before next season.

As a result, there will be a Game 6 Thursday night in Denver. Lakers lose, 102-99 Tuesday at Staples Center.

On tonight's edition of Lakers Late Night, we get into a very disappointing loss, starting with ...

• A befuddling lack of intensity early in the game.
• Poor perimeter shooting, allowing Denver to collapse consistently on L.A.'s bigs in the paint and help take them out of the game. Which, in turn, seemed to take Andrew Bynum out of the game defensively.
• A huge fourth quarter for Kobe Bryant, who found himself short on support.
• The practical implications of losing Tuesday's game. Fair to say the Lakers did themselves no favors.

Click below for postgame video from Bryant, Mike Brown, Bynum, Gasol, Jordan Hill, and more:

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Throughout April and the playoffs, Mike Brown has periodically employed a backcourt of Ramon Sessions and Steve Blake, with the latter at the two and almost inevitably overwhelmed by his defensive assignment. The most recent example came in the first half of Game 4, where Andre Miller continually bullied Blake while matched against him. It's not Blake's fault he struggles in these situations. He's simply giving up a lot of size. All the while, Devin Ebanks, who proved himself capable at the spot while filling in for Kobe Bryant, sits on the bench watching. Land O' Lakers regulars are well aware of my recurrent frustration at Brown's unwillingness to use the bigger/longer Ebanks in these scenarios whenever possible.

In the grand scheme of things, this is hardly the worst move Brown could make as a coach, but it's one I've nonetheless found curious. Thus, after Monday's practice in El Segundo, Brian and I got Brown's perspective on the matter. Below is a transcript of the conversation:

Land O' Lakers: What's the thinking behind keeping Sessions and Blake together, because it seems like, more defensively, it causes some problems? Andre Miller, for example, has been pushing Steve around, although he pushes a lot of people around.

Mike Brown: Yeah, he has. Steve has actually fought him fairly well. He's fought better than Sesh, to a certain degree. But we do that because [it's] more ball handling, more ball skilled guys out on the floor. If you look at last year's NBA champions, the Dallas Mavericks, they played with even two smaller guards in J.J. Barea and Jason Terry. So to have two ball-skilled guys out there, especially with the second unit at times, is good for us.

Part of it, too, is because we know Denver is doubling often and when they double right now, Steve is shooting a little bit better than Matt (Barnes) and/or Ebanks. So that is another reason we do it, because we don't feel like we drop dramatically on the defensive end when we have Steve on the floor instead of Ebanks or Matt.

LO'L: Even in those situations where someone like Miller has that size advantage?

MB: Well, he hasn't done a good enough job to -- knock on wood -- hurt us down the stretch for it to be effective. He hit a couple of buckets [Sunday night] that I thought were extremely tough. Like the one he drove and kind of threw up the play.

LO'L: Sure. Down the stretch, it was much different than during the first half.

MB: Correct. But the first half, stuff's gonna happen over the course of the game. We watched [film] today with the team, if we would have doubled [Miller] the correct way or at least helped out on him the correct way in the first half like we did in second half, then he wouldn't have had the first half that he had. Our first half defense, and in particular our first quarter defense, was not good. That was one of the things I talked with our guys about. Guys didn't do what they were supposed to do defensively in guarding the pick-and-roll, the post-up and pin-downs. We kind of made up our own coverages at times and we paid the price. That's why it was 28-26 in the first quarter, but if you watch the game, every quarter we got better and better, because we got tighter with our coverages and we did it without fouling.

(Editor's note: Later, Brown actually led Brian and I onto the court, and walked us through situations where doubles didn't arrive. He also noted how doubling off a non-scoring big like Kenneth Faried was an option often available, and how generally uncomplicated the approach was.)

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DENVER -- The Lakers didn't exactly light teams up from the outside during the regular season -- ranking 25th in the league by shooting 32.6 percent as a team on 3-pointers -- but Friday in Denver they especially couldn't deliver from deep.

L.A. shot 6-for-25 on 3-pointers (24.0 percent), with Kobe Bryant (3-for-10), Ramon Sessions (0-for-4), Matt Barnes (1-for-5) and Steve Blake (1-for-4) being the main culprits.

While the Lakers settled for shooting blanks from outside, it also negated their efforts on the inside as they were outscored 52-32 in the paint by the Nuggets.

Still, the team claimed they'll keep shooting 3s in the future. They just have to make more.

"If they double, I’m going to kick it out," Andrew Bynum said. "That’s the right thing to do."

Bryant didn't have a problem with the amount of attempts, so much as how they occurred.

"A lot of them came in desperation situations with low clock, because (Bynum is) getting double teamed he’s throwing it out on the perimeter and guys are catching the ball with 3-4 seconds left on the (shot) clock and they have to chuck some s--- up," Bryant said. "We got to penetrate and pitch and do other things that create other opportunities for some of our other guys like Matt and Steve and some of these other guys where they’re not just sitting on the 3-point line all game long."

Both Bynum and Lakers coach Mike Brown said that Lakers players could take a step or two in after catching the ball on the 3-point line to take a closer shot, but Brown stressed the importance of staying patient with the 3 to ultimately open things up inside.

"We did shoot a lot of 3s (in Game 3), but in the same breath too, that’s a shot that we’re going to have to hit," Brown said. "We’re going to have to hit that shot, especially when the ball goes into the post in an inside-out situation, in order to keep them honest."

Bryant offered two solutions: starting the offense earlier in the shot clock so if the ball does get kicked outside from Bynum after he's doubled, there is enough time to make another pass or two and also, diversifying the opportunities for players like Barnes and Blake by having them cut more instead of staying stationary on the perimeter.

"We got to start our offense a little earlier and also do things to get guys moving," Bryant said. "The other guys -- not myself, Pau (Gasol) and Andrew -- but the other guys where they feel like they have more of a rhythm. If you’re just standing there on the 3-point line all game long, it’s tough to shoot those shots and make those shots."

The Lakers shot 6-for-17 (35.3 percent) in Game 1 from downtown but just 2-for-15 in Game 2 (13.3 percent).

Dave McMenamin covers the Lakers for ESPNLosAngeles.com. Follow him on Twitter.

The Lakers remain undefeated in the Mike Brown postseason era, despite the Nuggets' pesky refusal to wave the white flag. The showing in Game 2 on Tuesday wasn't nearly as dominant as in Game 1, and I imagine Brown will point out more mistakes in Wednesday's film session. But the bottom line is the Lakers are up 2-0, and you can't ask for anything better. Here are four takeaways from the game.

1) When Kobe gets rolling, it's just ridiculous.
Heading into this series, Kobe Bryant hadn't shot the ball well against Denver this season. Thus, after his slow first half in Game 1, 14 fourth-quarter points and a steadily increasing efficiency felt like a nice omen of his having figured out Denver's scheme against him. Then again, Tuesday night didn't necessarily present a big mystery to unravel. George Karl opted largely to guard Kobe in single coverage with either Arron Afflalo or Corey Brewer, the first among the better wing defenders in the NBA, and the second certainly credible. And in both cases, they were rendered pretty helpless. Bryant's first basket was a rather emphatic dunk off a cross-court baseline feed from Matt Barnes, quite the announcement of his intentions to own this game. From there, the reins were never relinquished en route to 38 points on 15-for-29 shooting.

Shots were drained from inside, outside and all points in between. Whether attacking the rim, working in isolation, spinning baseline, fading away, jab-stepping, head-faking, pulling up or using his super status to get away with the mother of all push-offs, Bryant emptied his proverbial bag. And as we've learned over the years, it holds an awful lot of tricks. The second half probably featured a little too much one-on-one for the good of the overall offense. But at the same time, his night was pretty efficient and often spellbinding.

The timeliness of his makes also was key. With just more than four minutes in the game and Denver starting to gain momentum, Kobe found himself faced up against Afflalo yet again. This was a possession on which the Lakers really needed a basket, a moment their leader always knows. A few jab steps later, a 3-ball dropped, and the Lakers were back up by eight. He also drained a pair of free throws with 9.4 seconds on the clock, keeping the lead at five and essentially ending Denver's quest to push overtime.

Although really, Bryant's best plays of the night might have come on the defensive end. In the second half, after Steve Blake missed a 3-pointer, Denver was off to the races yet again, with Al Harrington on the receiving end of a home run pass from Andre Miller. Kobe, 33 years old and hopped up on German medicine, chased down Big Al from behind and blocked what should have been a flush. Then, with 2:21 left to play, Kenneth Faried couldn't hang on to a home run pass from Ty Lawson, and a scrum ensued for the loose ball. Kobe came up with the rock, sped down court, absorbed contact from one defender, and wrapped a pass around Danilo Gallinari to Andrew Bynum for a dunk and a six-point lead.

In a game in which Denver continued to claw for survival, Kobe made sure to cut off the oxygen supply whenever possible.

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He's not exactly healthy -- asked what causes pain for his sprained right ankle, he replied "Moving." -- but Matt Barnes will play Sunday when the Lakers and Nuggets open up their first round series at Staples Center.

Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway), this is spectacularly good news for the Lakers.

Already down Metta World Peace to suspension, facing Denver's depth and versatility the Lakers could ill afford to lose Barnes, leaving Devin Ebanks as the only available small forward not named Christian Eyenga. Now they have to hope Barnes, so reliant on energy and activity, can press through the pain and play his game, something he wasn't fully able to do last spring while fighting a knee injury. If he can't cut hard, move out on the break, or aggressively crash the glass, Barnes isn't nearly as effective. This is before we talk about the defensive side of the ball.

Coach Mike Brown still plans to start Ebanks, a smart choice allowing him to maintain continuity with the rest of his rotation, but Barnes is slated for heavy minutes. One of the more interesting things to watch over the course of the series will be the effectiveness of both on the offensive glass. Both Ebanks and Barnes posted offensive rebound rates near the top of the league among small forwards.

It doesn't serve the Lakers for them to be timid, but awareness will be key (with the 3's and the team as a whole). Well executed, aggressive work on the offensive glass will force the Nuggets to stick around the defensive end a little longer, taking some starch out of their transition game. On the other hand, mistakes will fuel Denver's attack.

"You've just got to pick and choose," Barnes said Saturday after practice. "We watched a lot of film on what we've done this year, what's been effective, and there are still times to go to the glass with them. You just have to pick and choose, because [Ty] Lawson's a one-man break, and Andre Miller likes to get the ball out and throw it ahead. So I've just got to be smart about when I crash."

Brown made it clear he doesn't want either to feel limited, but also emphasized judgment. A miscue here and there can be tolerated, but should either string a couple together Brown won't be shy about making substitutions.



Click below for more video from Saturday's practice, including Kobe Bryant, Ramon Sessions, Andrew Bynum, and Ebanks.

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Before the playoff brackets were set in stone, I hoped very hard the Lakers would open against the Dallas Mavericks rather than the Denver Nuggets. The defending champs haven't consistently looked the part all season, as evidenced by four losses to the Lakers in as many games. L.A. matches up well against Dallas. And most importantly, the Lakers tend to play well against teams they dislike, and there's no love lost for the squad that unceremoniously ended the three-peat quest. In the meantime, the Nuggets thrive in transition and pick-and-roll, two approaches that causes fits for the Lakers. They lack a true "star," but boast enviable depth. Ty Lawson and Andre Miller are point guards capable of creating havoc in very different ways. Arron Afflalo has a track record of quality D against Kobe Bryant. And Denver's small ball prowess could force some uncomfortable mismatches.

I still expect the Lakers to win. But I'm also expecting a very challenging series, especially with Metta World Peace suspended and Matt Barnes potentially limited by a sprained ankle.

For more perspective on the Nuggets, we called upon Jeremy Wagner of the True Hoop Network's Roundball Mining Company. Below are his responses to five questions.

Land O' Lakers: What are Denver's biggest strengths against the Lakers and what are their weaknesses?

Jeremy Wagner: Denver’s biggest strength is the ability to score in the paint, whether on the break, or in the half court via penetration by Lawson, Miller, Afflalo and Danilo Gallinari. With the Lakers’ ability to clog the paint on defense, that strength is somewhat mitigated, so Denver must take advantage of their speed to get easy baskets in transition.

The Nuggets’ biggest weakness is a dependence on small lineups. Denver has the size to match up with the Lakers front line, but will George Karl reduce the minutes of players like Kenneth Faried and Al Harrington for Timofey Mozgov and JaVale McGee? I think he should, but I doubt he agrees.

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A lot of factors can swing a playoff series. Individual and stylistic matchups. Home court advantage. Coaching. Unconsciously hot shooting. Injuries. Star power. And of course, experience. While oodles of "been there, done that" doesn't guarantee a championship (just ask the 2011 Los Angeles Lakers), it's never a bad thing to be well acquainted with the postseason. To a man, every player I've every spoken with has readily acknowledged the playoffs are an entirely different animal from the regular season. If you're not ready, that shift can be quite the eye-opener.

Over the last few years, we've grown accustomed to the Lakers as one of the NBA's more playoff-ready teams. In 2009, they won the title with a core one campaign removed from a trip to the Finals. In 2010, they repeated with an entire team -- save then-Ron Artest -- armed with at least one ring. 2011 may have ended with a whimper, but on paper, the Lakers' pedigree was perfect: A mix of reigning champions and seasoned veterans (Matt Barnes, Steve Blake) hungry to join the club.

This year, however, the roster composition is fairly different. Beyond the team being down to just four players with championship credentials (low by recent standards), they're not nearly as playoff-tested. In the "Pau" era, the only rotation player with essentially no playoff experience was Shannon Brown in 2009. This season, there are three. Ramon Sessions, Devin Ebanks and Jordan Hill all figure to play notable minutes, and all are making their postseason debuts this Sunday. (Oddly enough, Troy Murphy only has three minutes of playoff experience after 11 seasons, but at least he's a 11-year vet and his minutes will likely be sporadic.) Much is particularly expected of Sessions, but all will be asked to contribute on this elevated stage. There's no real way to comprehend what's in store for them beyond actually experiencing it. But that doesn't mean wisdom can't be imparted. With that in mind, I gathered perspective and memories from some of their teammates who've been there.

KOBE BRYANT
First playoff game: 4/25/97 vs. Portland, as a member of the Lakers

What felt immediately different in the playoffs?
"It's more physical. The game speeds up. The opposition really gets a chance to study your game and take away your strengths, so you have to make sure you have a well balanced attack. You have to make sure you think the game all the way through, because in the playoffs, things don't happen by accident. In the regular season, sometimes they do. In the postseason, they don't."

The Preparation
"Oh, man. I crammed so much. I knew every single play before they were running it. I was so hyped up, man! I studied the entire playbook, and Nick (Van Exel) and them were looking at me like I was crazy. 'What are you going?'

I was like, 'Isn't this what we're supposed to do?'

"Okay, young fella."

"Well, this is what I do."

Were there moments it paid off?
"It didn't really pay off much for me. I didn't play worth a s--- anyway." (laughs) I'm serious. But I learned a lot about the plays and different pro sets and from series to series, it was interesting to see how many teams essentially ran the same thing. So it was a good learning opportunity for me.

"If you don't do your preparation before Game 1, you don't know what adjustments are coming anyway. You have nothing to base if off of. For me, I did a great deal of studying, so I was able to watch from the bench, see what adjustments they made. See how they played Nick on screen/rolls. How they played Eddie (Jones') cuts. Shaq (O'Neal) in the post and all this stuff. So I learned a lot.

"They're small adjustments, but they're big adjustments. Sometimes the smallest moves give you the biggest returns."

Do you plan to talk with Sessions, Ebanks and Hill?
"Yeah, but the only message is to be fundamentally sound and minimize mistakes. That's really what it's about in every profession. In basketball, all it's about is minimizing your turnovers, controlling the glass, and controlling the tempo. And then everything else kind of gets into the execution of things."

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Matt Barnes missed the Lakers' regular season finale against the Sacramento Kings to stay back in Los Angeles and work rehabilitate his right ankle which the team says is moderately sprained and Mike Brown calls a "serious" injury.

No matter if Barnes' ankle is fully recovered in time for the Lakers' playoff opener against the Denver Nuggets on Sunday, he'll have to wait a little longer than tipoff to get on the floor.

Even though Metta World Peace will have six more games remaining on his suspension when the postseason opens up, Barnes won't be starting in World Peace's place at small forward.

"Ebanks can play the small forward or the two guard," Brown said, alluding to the seven games Ebanks filled in as a starter for Kobe Bryant while Bryant was out with his left shin injury. "I always like to if I can to not disrupt too much of the team or too much of what we have going on. We have a rotation right now that we feel good with with our bench, so I’d probably end up starting Ebanks, but who knows."

Ebanks started Thursday against the Kings despite dropping a 55-pound weight on his left hand while working out this week. He did enough to earn Brown's confidence in the Lakers' 114-106 double-overtime victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder to get the nod moving forward. Ebanks had eight points, five rebounds, two steals and a block in 27 minutes, but more importantly helped hold Kevin Durant to 11-for-34 shooting with his defense.

"He showed me a lot," Brown said. "You don’t stop a guy like Kevin Durant. Hopefully you can just make him work and I thought Ebanks did a good job or a solid job of trying to make the guy work and the guy still scored, which he’s going to score, but we like Ebanks doing at least what we ask him to do with our defensive principles."

While Barnes earned a starting spot with the Thunder win, Jordan Hill found a role in the rotation. Brown inserted Hill into the lineup as the first frontcourt player off the bench behind Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol on a hunch, and was rewarded as Hill put up a season-high 14 points and a career high 15 rebounds.

"Jordan has earned the right to continue getting looks at that third big, so that’s what I’m going to continue to do," Brown said, meaning that Hill should see time ahead of Josh McRoberts and Troy Murphy.

A combination of Hill's right knee not being 100 percent after suffering an MCL sprain when he was still with Houston and Brown not wanting to "disrupt" the rotation with L.A. playing solid basketball since the All-Star break kept the 24-year-old on the bench.

But not anymore.

"He’s earned the right to play and continue to get looks," Brown repeated. "He’ll be that guy."

Dave McMenamin covers the Lakers for ESPNLosAngeles.com. Follow him on Twitter.