Who was to blame for the Lakers overtime collapse in Game 4?  Was Kobe hogging the ball, or were his teammates too passive?  I just screened the videotape of every Lakers offensive possession in overtime and concluded that early in overtime, it was Kobe's teammates who were to blame by standing around and not doing enough to present him with passing targets to continue the offensive rhythm of the offense.  After a few of those early possessions, however, I do feel it was Kobe's fault. 

In my opinion, he was too impatient to drive to the basket instead of having the offense run in rhythm.  The most egregious sequence of Kobe ignoring his teammates was when the Lakers had the ball down four with 2:10 left, which I will detail more below.  He had tunnel vision on a drive to the basket, not looking for his teammates, had his shot blocked out of bounds, and then jacked up a difficult jumper right off the ensuing inbound pass and missed.  One constant was excellent Utah defense, plugging up potential passing lanes throughout overtime. 

Below you will find my notes on each Lakers offensive possession of overtime that I took while watching the tape.  FYI ... the Lakers were 2-10 from the field in overtime.  Lamar was 1-1, Pau and Sasha were 0-1, and Kobe was 1-7.

Leave me a comment and share your point of view on the Lakers OT of horrors.

1st LAL offensive possession of overtime.  Kobe flashes out high, makes a nice pass to Odom cutting to the post, and Odom is fouled by Okur.

Off inbound pass, Kobe gets it out front isolated on Kirilenko.  Everyone else is cleared out of the lane.  Kobe can't drive on Kirilenko because of his back.  Everyone else stands around for three seconds.  No one cuts or moves off the ball.  Kobe attempts a tough jumper and misses.  BLAME = Kobe's teammates.

Kobe gets ball right of the lane, posted up on Kirilenko about 17 feet away.  Everyone else clears out.  He's isolated.  No substantial movement off the ball for five seconds.  Gasol comes to the pinch post but that's it.  Kobe then paints himself into a corner by driving into traffic with five seconds still left on the shot clock.  Had his shot easily blocked by Kirilenko.  At that point, he had Gasol open at the elbow, and maybe Fisher on the wing for a three.  BLAME = Kobe's teammates early in the possession, Kobe himself late.

Kobe passed the ball inside to Pau, makes great pivot but misses a tough reverse dunk. 

Interesting sequence.  Lakers start to run their offense well with good flowing passing.  Kobe and Pau try to work a screen and roll and their angles weren't very good to begin with, and Kobe's pass to Pau is cut off.  A potential pass to Sasha is cut off by good Utah hustling defense.  Possession than totally breaks down with the shot clock winding down.  Sasha is placed in the unusual position of trying to break down the defense off the dribble, and he makes a bad pass and turns it over.  Actually, Sasha could have rolled the ball to Pau on a pick and roll, but didn't see the small window he had to make the pass.  Odom was even pointing for Vujacic to pass to Pau!  When Sasha finally did pass, Pau wasn't expecting it.  BLAME = great Utah defense early, Sasha and Pau late.

Lakers down four with 2:10 left.  Kobe gets a high screen from Gasol, tunnels to the basket and has his shot easily rejected by Kirilenko again.  BLAME = Kobe all the way.  I wish some players would realize that they still have time on the shot clock.  They have time to peel back and reset. 

Kobe gets it off the inbound pass on the right wing with :12 to shoot.  Doesn't even wait for Pau to come over and set a screen.  Bombs a low percentage shot from the wing and misses.  BLAME = Kobe all the way.

Kobe works pick and roll out front.  Makes a tough drive to the basket and scores on a gorgeous leaning lefthanded lay-up.  However, he didn't even look for any of his teammates this time.  And for once, his teammates were making the effort to move off the ball, but they stopped when Kobe started dribbling by himself for a few seconds because it was obvious he was going to take it on his own.  The ball stopped and the rest of them just stood around watching.  BLAME = Kobe.  Even though he made a beautiful shot, this possession perfectly captured the offensive problem in overtime.  But down two with 1:20 left, still time. 

By the way, on the pick and roll preceding the jam and the and-one by Kirilenko, Carlos Boozer appeared to totally set an illegal screen on Derek Fisher.

Kobe inbounds to Gasol.  Kobe gets it back.  Gets double screen from Gasol and Odom, drives to the basket.  Can't kick out to Fisher because pass is covered.  Can't roll it back to Gasol or Odom because those lanes are covered.  Still plenty of time on shot clock though, but I think Kobe had to go for broke because they were down five with only 30 seconds left.  BLAME = Great Utah defense, no blame to Kobe. 

Kobe desperate three pointer.  Fouled, shoots three.

Lakers spread the floor well.  Vujacic penetrates, kicks to Odom for driving dunk, conceded by Utah. 

Kobe misses desperation running three.

Just listened in on Norm Chow's first conference call since being hired by UCLA.  Just like with DeWayne Walker, Norm Chow was "recruited" by Rick Neuheisel as well.

Chow considered going back to the NFL, or simply taking the year off from coaching, "but then," he said, "I got a phone call from a very persuasive fella."

It continued with two de facto "recruiting visits" when Neuheisel and Walker went to Chow's house here in Southern California this past Friday and Saturday nights, and, as Neuheisel put it, "sat there in his living room and shared the vision (for UCLA football) with his family."

And now, the UCLA program has an unusual, but potentially amazing arrangement.  I have never heard of a new head coach, whose defensive coordinator, and whose new offensive coordinator, were both interviewed for the job he just got.  What's next, Temple's Al Golden as the new special teams coach?

"The three of us are going to be partners in a start up company that has a huge upside," Neuheisel said.

Looks like this start up has the potential to become college football's Google.

Like the swallows returning to Capistrano, rumors of Pete Carroll's return to the NFL have become an annual event.

For me, it brings back warm memories of visiting http://www.flightaware.com, a web-site that allows you to track the movements of any plane in the country. Ah yes, I remember that magical moment when I found that Miami Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga's private plane was heading to Costa Rica ... coincidentally where Carroll was on vacation at that very moment! Unfortunately, this year, I haven't yet been able to find the tail number of Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank's private jet, so if it's headed to Hawaii, where Carroll is vacationing, I'll be none the wiser.

My opinion is that Carroll is not going to the NFL this off-season, and certainly not to the Falcons. I think a number of factors must be present for Carroll to even think about leaving. He must be given complete control of the program. It must be an attractive location, like Los Angeles (if we ever get another team), San Francisco (where he's from), San Diego, etc. (not Dallas if Jerry Jones still owns the team). And finally, it must be an organization that has a high probability of being a championship contender in the short and long term. All these factors must be present, in my mind, for Carroll to consider leaving ... which is far from a guarantee that he actually would leave. Remember, last year with the Dolphins, Carroll didn't consider leaving, he just agreed to listen to what they had to say.

I get the sense that there is still a tiny part of Carroll that is intrigued by the NFL, but that is outweighed by his love for coaching at USC right now. In the last year or so, Carroll came up with sort of a slogan for what he wants to do at USC - "Win Forever". He is challenging himself to forever continue the dominance that he's enjoyed at USC over the past seven years ... essentially for the next 15-20 years until he retires. If they are able to continue that domination and indeed, "win forever", when he eventually retires, USC will probably be playing in the Pete Carroll Coliseum.

I'll leave you with this thought. In the past few years, when Carroll is asked about a player who is considering leaving college early to go to the NFL, he remarks that most of Carroll's former USC players who go on to the pros feel that although the NFL is great, it is still a job and a business, and it's simply not nearly as fun as playing in college. Even though the players are the ones saying that, I get the sense that Carroll feels the same way.

The culture that Carroll has created at USC seems so special and so fun and so unique, why would he want to give that up right now ... especially for the Falcons?