Kobe takes command of Lakers huddle

Lakers forward Kobe Bryant plays tight on Trail Blazers center Mason Plumlee on Saturday. AP Photo/Steve DykesPORTLAND, Ore. -- During a third-quarter timeout in Saturday’s 121-103 blowout loss to the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center, Kobe Bryant took command of his team's huddle.

The 37-year-old Los Angeles Lakers star passionately lectured his young teammates about the continuous string of defensive miscues as Trail Blazers guards Damian Lillard (36 points) and C.J. McCollum (28) kept scoring while facing little to no resistance.

Specifically, Bryant told his teammates to pressure those guards and help keep the ball out of their hands, a key element of the Lakers’ game plan that hadn’t…