Chapter 61: Preseason Game 8: Settling In

The first trip with the new unit, Fisher took the inbound and brought the ball across. Bowen peeled wide left, Ben worked toward the short corner, and Shaq settled near the block. Without Van Exel above the arc or Ceballos cutting through, the floor looked different.

Fisher started to signal the set.

Kobe saw Detroit leaning toward Shaq before the action developed and pointed higher.

Shaq came up from the block. Fisher looked once, bounced the ball toward Kobe, and cleared it.

Dumars moved with him.

Kobe caught on the wing and waited for Shaq to arrive. Dumars positioned himself to send Kobe toward the screen, expecting the help behind it, so Kobe gave him what he wanted for one dribble before changing direction. Dumars recovered, but Shaq’s defender had already stepped away from the lane.

Ben slipped underneath.

Kobe put the pass between two Detroit jerseys, and Ben caught it on the move and finished with both hands.

Boom.

Detroit took the ball out immediately.

On the next trip, Kobe got the ball to Shaq early and cut as soon as the pass left his hands. Dumars turned with him, and Shaq returned the ball into Kobe’s path before the help could settle. Kobe gathered underneath, used the rim to protect the ball and banked it in.

Detroit adjusted the third time.

Kobe entered the ball and started through, but Dumars was already waiting on the route. Kobe stopped short instead of completing the cut. Dumars stopped with him, opening the opposite side as Bowen slid toward the corner.

Fisher found him.

Bowen’s three hit the back rim and came out, but Shaq went over two Pistons for the rebound and drew a foul on the putback.

As the players lined up, Fisher came alongside Kobe.

“Same matchup again?”

“Same matchup.”

“You want help on the screen, or are you good at fighting through it?”

“I’m good. Just make him work for it.”

Fisher nodded and moved back toward the top.

Detroit forced a turnover when Ben tried to squeeze a pass through traffic, and Dumars denied Kobe’s first catch on another possession until the Lakers were deep into the clock.

Kobe finally got the ball, attacked, saw the help waiting and kicked it back to Fisher. Fisher had enough room to shoot, but the jumper caught the back rim.

Detroit came back the other way and worked the ball inside before a short attempt rolled off. Shaq secured the rebound and looked for Fisher, but Kobe was already breaking up the right side.

Shaq threw it ahead.

Kobe caught near half court and pushed until two Pistons collapsed toward the lane. Bowen filled the wing behind them.

Kobe sent it across.

Bowen set his feet.

Nothing but net.

At the next dead ball, Van Exel returned for Fisher. Ceballos followed a few minutes later for Bowen, restoring most of the group Kobe had started the game with.

Nick brought the ball across and lifted his hand to call the next action. Kobe saw Dumars leaning toward the expected reversal and pointed to the other side.

Van Exel looked at the floor, then bounced him the ball.

Shaq came high. Kobe used him, drew Detroit’s big one step above where he wanted to be and released the pass before the second defender could settle.

Shaq caught it moving toward the paint and finished through contact.

“I got a baby on me,” he said as they turned back.

The next possession belonged to Van Exel. Nick kept the ball, waved Shaq away and beat his defender into the lane for a floater while Kobe cleared the side.

Swish.

Detroit came back through Hill.

He caught against Ceballos on the wing, gave him a hesitation and waited until Campbell stepped toward the lane. Hill never tried to finish over him.

The pass went underneath instead.

Thorpe caught it and scored.

Kobe took the inbound and handed it to Van Exel.

The Lakers had started finding their rhythm.

Grant Hill was beginning to change it.

Detroit went back to Hill on the next trip.

Ceballos gave him space on the wing while Campbell hovered near the lane. Hill put the ball down once, hesitated and watched Ceballos shift with him. When Hill attacked left, Campbell stepped across.

Hill took one more dribble.

Campbell came another step.

The ball went underneath him to Thorpe for the dunk.

The Lakers answered through Shaq, but Hill was back before the crowd had settled. This time he didn’t wait for Detroit’s guards. He took a long rebound himself and pushed up the middle.

Van Exel picked him up above the arc while Kobe retreated toward the right lane, staying between Dumars and the basket. Hill slowed just enough to make both defenders commit to their responsibilities.

Nick stayed with the ball.

Kobe stayed home.

Hill changed direction and got past Van Exel’s shoulder. Campbell rotated, but Hill reached the glass before he could establish himself.

Two more.

Kobe found Dumars on the inbound and ran with him.

Detroit didn’t need another Hill basket to keep the pressure on. On the next possession Thorpe came up to screen. Hill carried Ceballos toward the middle, waited for Campbell to show and fired the ball toward the weak side.

The jumper went down.

Harris stood and called for Eddie Jones.

Ceballos came out at the next whistle.

Eddie’s length changed the first action immediately. He stayed on Hill’s top shoulder and forced the catch farther from the lane. Hill received it anyway, gave the ball up and cut through rather than attacking a bad angle.

Detroit reset.

Dumars eventually got it late in the clock and buried a contested jumper over Kobe.

Kobe turned for the inbound.

The Lakers stayed within reach through Shaq and Van Exel, but Hill kept forcing the defense to make choices. When Eddie recovered over one screen, Hill kept the dribble alive instead of attacking. Campbell showed himself near the foul line.

Only then did Hill move the ball.

The shot from the corner missed.

Thorpe tipped it back outside, and Detroit got another possession.

Kobe watched Hill receive the ball again. The first move wasn’t the decision. Hill was waiting for the Lakers to make theirs.

Detroit scored on the reset, pushing the lead to six.

Harris called timeout.

He had the board ready before the players reached him. “Thorpe’s pulling us too high,” he said, marking the screen. “Bigs, contain and recover. Don’t chase Hill out here.”

Campbell leaned toward the board.

“Weak side stays with the cutter. Make him finish over somebody instead of giving him the pass underneath.”

Kobe wiped his face with the towel. He didn’t add anything.

Harris drew the next offensive set, then sent them back out.

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Detroit tested the adjustment immediately. Hill came off Thorpe’s screen and turned toward the middle, but Campbell stayed lower this time. Eddie recovered from behind.

Hill kept the dribble alive.

Campbell didn’t come.

Hill finally pulled up from just inside the foul line.

The shot hit the back rim.

Shaq secured it.

The coverage hadn’t solved Hill.

It had at least made him choose something else.

At the next whistle, Harris looked down the bench.

“Bowen.”

Bruce stood and headed toward the scorer’s table.

A few minutes later another dead ball came, and Harris sent Eddie back in while Van Exel came out. Kobe took the inbound. Eddie found Lindsey Hunter, Bowen walked toward Hill, and Dumars stopped near Kobe.

No one explained the lineup.

Detroit went straight back to Hill.

Bowen met him before the catch and stayed on his top side, forcing him several feet farther from the block than Detroit wanted. Hill finally received the ball, but when he turned, Kobe was sitting in the passing lane toward Dumars while Eddie crowded Hunter above the arc.

Detroit reversed once.

Then again.

The action had already lost most of its shape by the time Dumars came free on the opposite side.

Kobe recovered.

Dumars rose anyway.

The jumper dropped over his hand.

Kobe took the ball from the net and gave it to Eddie for the inbound.

At the other end, Kobe brought Shaq high and came around him with Dumars attached. Detroit leaned toward the lane before Kobe turned the corner.

He moved the ball early.

Eddie caught on the wing with the defense still rotating and attacked instead of waiting. One dribble carried him past Hunter, and when Thorpe stepped over, Eddie dropped the ball inside.

Shaq finished.

Detroit tried Hill again. Bowen stayed with him through the first action and forced the ball back toward the top. Hill relocated, but Kobe saw the reversal coming and got a hand into the passing lane.

The ball came loose.

Eddie grabbed it.

Kobe was already running.

Eddie pushed up the right side and returned the ball to Kobe near the middle. Kobe had room to continue toward the rim, but Shaq was coming behind Detroit’s retreating defense.

Kobe waited until the last defender stepped toward him and dropped it back.

Shaq caught it in stride.

The rim shook.

“LET’S GO, LAKERS! LET’S GO, LAKERS!”

The Forum came up around them as Kobe turned back toward Dumars.

Detroit proved it a few possessions later. Hill started across the lane while Hunter moved toward the opposite side. Kobe expected Eddie to stay with Hunter through the exchange; Eddie expected the switch.

For one beat, both went the same direction.

Hill saw it.

The pass reached Dumars in the corner before either Laker could recover.

Three.

Eddie pointed between them as they ran back. “I thought you were staying with him.”

“I thought we were switching.”

Eddie glanced over. “My bad.”

They picked up their men and kept moving.

Kobe brought them across and got the ball to Shaq. Detroit crowded the post, Shaq kicked it back out, and Kobe moved it to Eddie before the defense could reset.

Eddie drove the rotation and finished from the side of the rim.

Harris left them together.

Bowen made Hill work for another catch. Eddie pressured Hunter. Kobe stayed close enough to Dumars that Detroit couldn’t use the easiest reversal. They didn’t stop everything, but the possessions lasted longer and Detroit stopped getting the same clean decisions it had found earlier.

The six-point lead disappeared.

Shaq scored inside. Eddie hit from the elbow. Kobe got into the lane once and found Bowen alone in the corner.

Bowen missed.

Detroit came back, Hill created another jumper, and the Lakers answered through Shaq.

By the time Van Exel returned late in the second quarter, the game was even again.

Dumars was waiting for Kobe.

Van Exel brought the ball across and started the Lakers into their set. Shaq moved up to screen, and Kobe began toward the route that had given him a clean pull-up earlier in the night.

Dumars moved first.

He changed his angle before Kobe reached the screen and took away the path toward the middle. Kobe recognized it, kept his dribble, and reset toward the sideline.

The possession continued without him.

Ceballos got the ball late and missed from the baseline.

Detroit rebounded.

The next time, Kobe got Dumars leaning just enough to attack. He crossed, gained half a step, and changed hands as he entered the lane, but Dumars stayed close. The moment Kobe brought the ball across his body, Dumars reached in and knocked it loose.

On the next trip, Kobe gave the ball up early and moved toward Eddie, setting a screen that caught Dumars as Eddie came around with the ball. Kobe slipped toward the lane before Detroit could sort out the exchange, and Eddie found him in stride.

Dumars was recovering from behind, and Detroit’s big stepped toward Kobe. The short jumper was there.

So was Shaq.

Kobe dropped it inside.

Shaq caught, turned and finished before the second defender could get back.

Detroit took the ball out quickly.

Dumars came alongside Kobe as they crossed half court. Neither said anything.

The final minutes moved faster after that. Hill created another basket when Bowen gave him too much room coming off a screen. Shaq answered from the block. Van Exel got into the lane and found Campbell for a short jumper, then Detroit came back through Dumars, who used a change of pace to create space for another shot.

Kobe got one more of his own.

Dumars took away the drive, so Kobe stopped at the elbow and rose before the help arrived.

The jumper dropped.

Detroit answered.

Lakers 50 – Pistons 50.

The clock slipped under a minute.

Shaq established himself deep on the next possession. Van Exel got him the ball before Detroit could bring the second defender, and Shaq turned toward the middle.

Thorpe came down anyway.

Shaq kicked it out.

Kobe caught on the wing.

Dumars closed.

Kobe put the ball down once, drawing him another step, then sent it back toward Van Exel. Nick attacked the opening and tossed the ball toward Campbell near the baseline.

Campbell finished.

Detroit held for the final possession.

Hill walked the ball across and waited until the clock reached twelve before calling Thorpe up. Bowen fought over the screen. Campbell stayed lower, following the coverage Harris had given them earlier.

Hill kept his dribble.

Bowen recovered.

With five seconds left, Hill changed direction and attacked the middle. Campbell met him outside the lane while Bowen came from behind.

Hill rose between them.

The runner caught the back rim.

Shaq reached for the rebound as the horn sounded.

The ball dropped harmlessly to the floor.

Lakers 52 – Pistons 50.

Kobe turned toward the bench.

Harris was already walking toward the tunnel with one of the assistants beside him, talking over something on the board. Van Exel grabbed a towel. Ceballos and Campbell fell in behind Shaq.

Kobe joined them.

At the beginning of the night, walking out with that group had been different enough for him to notice.

This time, he didn’t.

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We’re almost at the end of the preseason. It’s been a longer stretch than I originally planned, but I wanted Kobe’s transition into the NBA to feel earned instead of jumping straight from the draft to opening night.

Thanks for reading and sticking with it. The regular season is right around the corner.