THE GOOD

The Laker starters: I plan on singling out a few guys in particular, but lest anybody think I'm excluding those without a writeup, fear not.  The fivesome of Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher, Trevor Ariza, Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum all deserve praise and they done got it on this here Lakersblog post.

Kobe Bryant: One hell of a game is required to make 8 turnovers feel like an incidental afterthought.  Kobe Bryant had one hell of a game.  38 points (26 of which came in the second half).  Only 20 attempts required to net said 38 points.  13-14 from the line.  5 boards.  7 dimes.  2 steals.  And in what's becoming more often the 2007-2008 rule that highlights any rare exception, an extremely controlled effort where little was forced and teammates were sought out.  Such fantastic displays of dominating but unselfish play are joy to watch.  Then again, Kobe might have made this section purely on the strength of that twisting, third quarter ending reverse dunk or the flurry of ridiculous turnaround jumpers. 

Andrew Bynum:  11-13 from the field.  28 points accrued (besting his career-high 24 set Friday against the Sixers).  12 boards.  4 dimes (another personal best).  2 blocks.  And a rather ho-hum effort from All-Star Phoenix counterpart Amare Stoudemire (19 points, 5 of which came during garbage time and borderline garbage time, and a scant 6 boards), meaning his defensive assignment was kept in check.  To a large degree, Bynum kept Phoenix in check, period.  Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni made no bones about admitting that "Bynum killed us."  Phil is often hesitant to lavish too much praise the 20-year old's way, but he acknowledged that Kareem's pupil kept the Suns' D "on edge."  Besides, there's plenty of time left for accolades.  "At the end of the year, if he's the MVP, then we'll say what a great year he had," joked PJ.

Derek Fisher: I liked the 19 points.  I also liked the 6 assists.  But what I LOVED was nada in the turnover column.  For a team often guilty of costly rock carelessness, this is always a welcome development.  Everyone knew Fish could help stabilize a once-fragile and fragmented locker room.  But today's performance provided high quality proof that the Threepeat Club member might be more capable of stabilizing matters on the court than many would have expected.  And I'm calling myself out as a member of the "Underestimation Posse," by the way.  Obviously, there's a lot of season remaining on the ol' calender.  But 28 games into the season, it's safe to say that Fisher is playing much better ball than I predicted.  It's times like these that I relish being wrong.

Never allowing the Suns to eclipse 50% shooting during any quarter: Phoenix hit an even 5-0 mark during the second frame, but that was as good as it got for a squad that considers 49% shooting an average night.  Literally.

Grant Hill playing his 27th consecutive game, his longest streak in eight seasons:  A trend that should make even the most bitter of Suns haters happy.  Hill's one of the NBA's good guys and it's nice to see him sustaining some health after years of struggle.  Depressing to think about how great this guy's career could have been sans a vendetta from the injury bug.

Some cat in the section next to me popped the question to his lady immediately after the fourth quarter ended.  While I'm not a fan of getting down on bended knee at a sports venue (I've yet to meet a girl who finds this act anything less than tacky and lame), this proposal landed in the "good" column for two reasons.  First, she said yes.  Second, dude had the common sense to do it without the use of a jumbotron.  No need to put your hopeful wife on the spot.  And there's truly no need to risk making a jackass of yourself by getting turned down in front of 18,997 of your closest friends.   

THE BAD

A tendency to relax at times:  14 turnovers on the night certainly wasn't ideal, but when you take into account that an octet belonged to the former #8, I suppose an argument can be made that the team as a whole actually did a decent job taking care of the ball.  And perhaps the Lakers were so relieved at the lack of roster-wide gaffes that it resulted in overly comforted exhales after made baskets, as opposed to furiously getting back on D.  Too many Suns baskets by way of a Phoenician beating every Laker down court.  You'll squeak a win every now and then, but make this a habit and the odds favor Nash's bunch. 

Third quarter guarding of the arc.  Yeah, the Suns are a hot shooting team from distance, but 5-7 is still pretty ridiculous.  That 71% clip also represented a period where the Suns appeared set to regain control after spending much of the first with the Lakers in their rear-view.  Fortunately, order was restored.

The Bench:  Save a few good shots and passes from Jordan Farmar, a pretty quiet night from those entering the mayhem from the pine.  Ronny Turiaf can be cut slack due to very limited PT.  But during just over 27 minutes of combined work, Sasha Vujacic and Vlad Radmanovic combined for 2 points and 6 fouls and 0 made field goals.  Obviously, it's not the end of world, especially in light of the results.  And no matter how well the "mob" often plays, you can never lose sight that it's still a collection of role players and role players often play like little more than such a description.  But considering how much better this team is with the bench often producing at a high level, it also can't go ignored.

And finally, a few thoughts on a certain bow tie donned by a certain 9 rings owning coach:

"What's wrong with a bow tie?  A little holiday spirit." - Phil Jackson (who later added that the tie was purely a "holiday special" and specifically, a Christmas holiday special.  When I pressed him whether the neck-wear would get busted out on, say, Valentine's or Arbor Day, PJ shot down the notion.).

"I thought it looked nice, you know what I mean?  It was more of an old school thing.  You wouldn't catch me in it.  But he pulled it off." - Andrew Bynum

"It was a good look.  I liked it.  Phil is full of surprises." - Lamar Odom

"It was disgusting.  I don't know what he was thinking.  Somebody asked me, Raja Bell, I don't know, they looked over and said, "Is Phil wearing a bow tie?"  I kinda looked down.  That was the first time I saw it.  I kinda threw up in my mouth just a little bit." - Kobe Bryant

-AK