The Lakers reconvened Monday morning, some a little "somber," others a "little grumpy," and that was before Lamar Odom was determined to be questionable for Game 5 tonight against the Houston Rockets.
It wasn't a great day for the top-seeded team in the Western Conference playoffs, a reality best captured by Kobe Bryant after he grew tired of hearing the same basic question -- "What's wrong with you guys?" -- before delivering his best response.
"They just kicked our [butt]," he said a day after the Lakers' 99-87 Game 4 loss to the undersized, undermanned Rockets. "They just gave it to us. Hopefully, we can return the favor [tonight]."
The Lakers were hearing it from just about everybody as they fell to a 2-2 tie in the best-of-seven series, their apparent lack of a killer instinct being dissected by almost every sports source.
From ESPN analyst Magic Johnson, who happens to own about 5% of the Lakers: "The Lakers embarrassed themselves, the organization and the Laker fans. The two leaders must step up and do something about this, and that's Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher."
From TNT analyst Charles Barkley: "The Lakers are guilty of having so much talent, they win because they are good, but they never play with a sense of urgency unless there is a [real] sense of urgency. I think it's going to hurt them down the line whether it's against Denver or the Cavaliers. I don't think you can turn it on and off."
From Lakers Coach Phil Jackson: "This team has a Jekyll and Hyde in it, a little bit, I'll admit that."
Wait, what?
TV talking heads are one thing, but Jackson was particularly introspective about what had been unfolding in front of him throughout the season, be it home losses to Charlotte and Philadelphia or one-sided road losses to Portland.
Those defeats were only a matchstick compared to the pyrotechnics set off by the Rockets on Sunday.
Immediately after the game, Jackson talked about the team sometimes needing a "spark" in order to win. He was asked Monday if he should be the one creating it.
"I hope I am, but obviously I wasn't Saturday and Sunday morning capable of doing that . . . ," he said. "From the jump ball on, it was a tough situation for us. We just didn't get any momentum, any traction, in the game."
Players were in a somber mood at practice, to use Jackson's words, and a little grumpy as well, to steal Bryant's observation.
