LAKERS ' ASSISTANT SHAW NOTICES OLD HANDS-ON KOBE AS FINALS GOES ON
Brian Shaw
But as the Finals have progressed  and Bryant's will has grown stronger and more determined  Lakers assistant coach Brian Shaw has noticed a pattern from the past re-emerging.
 "We always  at the end of the evening  can find areas during the game where we say Kobe needs to move the ball more and get more people involved " Shaw said. "But that's something that you just kind of have to take with him. Because of his ability  he can take and make shots that most other players can't make."
 Shaw said that over his years as an assistant  and a player alongside Bryant  he's noticed how a "pecking order" emerges in the Lakers offense with Bryant as the top option  and too often the only option.
 "We tell our guys to start the offense away from him " Shaw said.
 "Use this side of the court  see your options over here; if nothing's there  reverse it to him and now the shot clock's down and let him do his thing. But when he's out there on the floor and he's doing his little signals asking for the ball  there's kind of a pecking order that happens out there on the court.
 "They don't want to piss him off  and they want to please the coaching staff as well. But he's the closest one to them on the floor. So a lot of times they'll force the ball into him with three people around him instead of making the right play."
 The only player on the Lakers who consistently does what the offense dictates is Derek Fisher  Shaw said  with too many younger players deferring to Bryant's commands.
 "Some of the younger guys  they just want to make him happy " Shaw said. "When I played  Shaq was the second ... there were two dominant players. So if we went away from Kobe and threw it in to Shaq  what can he say? Now  who is that guy that's on the same level that he's on? If they make a play over here to Lamar (Odom) or somebody else and Kobe gets mad  then they're going to play more to that because nobody's on that same level."
 Well  how about a certain 7-foot tall Spaniard? "Pau (Gasol) doesn't have the demeanor " Shaw said. "He's a nice guy. Shaq might've been like  'Give me the ball.' And Kobe might've been like  'Give me the ball.' If you give it to Shaq  it's OK. If you give it to Pau and it doesn't work out  then Kobe might get on you. That's just something the players have to work out."
 Shaw did not intend his remarks to come off as critical of Bryant  merely explanatory. It's a blessing-and-curse issue the Lakers' coaching staff has gladly dealt with for years  only sometimes finding answers.
 In the past couple of years  Shaw said  Bryant and coach Phil Jackson have developed a level of trust where Jackson is OK with Bryant calling plays on his own or deviating from what Jackson has drawn up.
 Shaw said the coaching staff can only do so much in that regard. That it's up to his teammates to be more assertive and confident in their reads and reactions to Bryant for things to evolve to the next level.
 If his teammates hang back  Bryant will push into the void. Even if he's tired. Even if he's past his limit.
But as the Finals have progressed  and Bryant's will has grown stronger and more determined  [TGT] has noticed a pattern from the past re-emerging.
 "We always  at the end of the evening  can find areas during the game where we say Kobe needs to move the ball more and get more people involved [TGT] said. "But that's something that you just kind of have to take with [TGT]. Because of [TGT] ability  [TGT] can take and make shots that most other players can't make.[TGT] said that over [TGT] years as an assistant  and a player alongside Bryant  [TGT]'s noticed how a "pecking order" emerges in the Lakers offense with Bryant as the top option  and too often the only option.
 "We tell our guys to start the offense away from [TGT] " [TGT] said.
 "Use this side of the court  see your options over here; if nothing's there  reverse it to [TGT] and now the shot clock's down and let [TGT] do [TGT] thing. But when [TGT]'s out there on the floor and [TGT]'s doing [TGT] little signals asking for the ball  there's kind of a pecking order that happens out there on the court.
 "They don't want to piss [TGT] off  and they want to please the coaching staff as well. But [TGT]'s the closest one to them on the floor. So a lot of times they'll force the ball into [TGT] with three people around [TGT] instead of making the right play."
 The only player on the Lakers who consistently does what the offense dictates is Derek Fisher  [TGT] said  with too many younger players deferring to Bryant's commands.
 "Some of the younger guys  they just want to make [TGT] happy " [TGT] said. "When I played  Shaq was the second ... there were two dominant players. So if we went away from Kobe and threw it in to Shaq  what can he say? Now  who is that guy that's on the same level that he's on? If they make a play over here to Lamar (Odom) or somebody else and Kobe gets mad  then they're going to play more to that because nobody's on that same level."
 Well  how about a certain 7-foot tall Spaniard? "Pau (Gasol) doesn't have the demeanor [TGT] said. "He's a nice guy. Shaq might've been like  'Give me the ball.' And Kobe might've been like  'Give me the ball.' If you give it to Shaq  it's OK. If you give it to Pau and it doesn't work out  then Kobe might get on you. That's just something the players have to work out.[TGT] did not intend [TGT] remarks to come off as critical of Bryant  merely explanatory. It's a blessing-and-curse issue the Lakers' coaching staff has gladly dealt with for years  only sometimes finding answers.
 In the past couple of years  [TGT] said  Bryant and coach Phil Jackson have developed a level of trust where Jackson is OK with Bryant calling plays on his own or deviating from what Jackson has drawn up.
 [TGT] said the coaching staff can only do so much in that regard. That it's up to [TGT] teammates to be more assertive and confident in their reads and reactions to Bryant for things to evolve to the next level.
 If [TGT] teammates hang back  Bryant will push into the void. Even if [TGT]'s tired. Even if [TGT]'s past [TGT] limit.