Will the real Kobe Bryant please stand up?

Laker fans were left bewildered after Bryant’s puzzling performance in Sunday’s 107-102 Game 1 loss to the Suns. The normally gun-blazing Bryant took only 21 shots, a far cry from the 27.2 attempts per game he averaged during the regular season. And the deeper you delve into the numbers, the worse it looks.

Including free-throw attempts, Bryant averaged 31.7 “shot tries” in 41.0 minutes per game during the regular season (we arrive at this figure by multiplying free-throw attempts by 0.44 and adding field-goal attempts). So on Sunday, when Bryant played 46 minutes against the league’s fastest paced team, we should have expected close to 40 shot tries from him. But between the 21 field-goal attempts and eight free-throw attempts, he ended up with a meager 24.5.

Granted, 24.5 is still a ton of shots for most players, but for Bryant it was abnormally low. It had been nearly a month since he’d taken fewer than 25 field goal attempts in a game. And it was shocking because it was his first playoff game of the post-Shaq era – a perfect time to show the world that the Kobecentric Lakers could still get things done in the West.

Moreover, Bryant’s play was so passive that he had trouble converting even when the opportunities arose. Bryant made just seven of his 21 attempts, including 1-of-6 on 3-pointers,and couldn’t rally L.A. in the final minute when he tried to take over (although that whack to the head from Tim Thomas didn’t help).It wasn’t like Bryant was setting up teammates, either: His five assists barely topped his season average of 4.5, and again this was despite playing more minutes at an extremely fast pace.

So what gives? Why was Kobe hanging out on the perimeter all game like he was Fred Hoiberg? Believe it or not, the Lakers claim it was their plan all along. Coach Phil Jackson apparently felt it was in L.A.’s best interests to establish the other players in Game 1 of the series, the logic being that they’d be less likely to sit around with their hands in their pockets during the final six games.

In particular, Jackson wanted to target Phoenix’s interior defense by calling Kwame Brown’s number early and often. The fifth-year (dare we call him “veteran” yet?) center played extremely well during the season’s final month and a half, so it wasn’t a ridiculous idea. Since moving into the starting lineup on March 14, Brown scored in double figures 13 times in 18 games and shot a sizzling 60.7% from the floor.

Additionally, Phoenix’s interior is a weak link. The Suns have defended the paint atrociously ever since they lost Kurt Thomas just after the All-Star break. With 6-foot-8-inch Boris Diaw lining up as the Suns’ “center,” Jackson no doubt saw an opportunity to get one of Phoenix’s key players in early foul trouble.

So I can understand Jackson’s logic – but it still wasn’t a good idea. For starters, Bryant had such a passive mindset for the first three quarters that when the Lakers really needed him to take things over in the fourth, he couldn’t do it. On top of that, Brown didn’t remind anybody of Wilt Chamberlain in the paint. He made just five of 12 shots, so going to him in the post seemed to hurt the Lakers more than it hurt the Suns.

L.A. shot only 42.2% from the floor overall,and in fact, its only saving grace at the offensive end was its 15 offensive rebounds. Essentially, Jackson’s strategy ended up sacrificing Game 1 – something he acknowledged was a possibility – in the hopes that the Lakers will be better positioned for Games 2 through 7.

But here’s my question – what did the Lakers really gain from this? This team played a certain style for 82 straight games, and it was all focused on Kobe. Now we’re supposed to believe that because Kwame Brown and Luke Walton got a few more touches in Game 1, that the Lakers are suddenly a balanced offensive team? Are we really supposed to believe that they won’t go back to their regular-season offense in Game 2, or that they’ll ever revisit the game plan from Sunday again in these playoffs?

And if it was so important for Jackson to get his other guys more involved, why on Earth did he wait until April 22 to do it? Shouldn’t he have done this in, oh, say, November? At the very least, he could have turned to this strategy a week earlier, when the Lakers played the Suns and had a 21-point lead by halftime.

Chalk it up as a huge missed opportunity, because Game 1 was there for the taking. Phoenix’s normally torrid offense sputtered in the second and third quarters, producing just 36 points and allowing the Lakers to tie the game heading into the fourth quarter. Considering the Lakers have to win at least once in Phoenix – and probably twice – in order to take the series, letting this one get away stings.

That’s why tonight’s Game 2 should play out very differently. Expect Bryant to be the focal point of the offense early and often, and look for the rest of the Lakers to fall right back into their regular season roles.

That may not be such a bad thing. Jackson was focused on attacking Phoenix’s interior defense with postups, but a more effective tactic may be to force them to help against Bryant’s penetration and tagging them with fouls that way. Brown’s high-percentage shooting may return if he’s taking in feeds from Bryant for dunks and layups rather than having to create his own shot from the blocks.

Unfortunately, the Lakers can’t undo their misguided strategy from Sunday. Getting the other guys involved was a nice sentiment, but the rule of thumb in the playoffs is that you dance with what brought you there unless you’re presented with a real good reason not to. Jackson is one of the game’s greatest coaches, but his violation of that cardinal rule on Sunday resulted in a self-inflicted defeat – one that could ultimately cost the Lakers the season.

Mr. Hollinger is the author of the 2005-06 Pro Basketball Forecast. He can be reached at jhollinger@nysun.com.