February 2008 Archives
GAMERS
Shelburne in the Daily News/Daily Breeze
Bresnahan in theTimes
Ding in the Register
Turner in the Press-Enterprise
COLUMNS
Crowe on why the newest Laker esta muy popular
NOTEBOOKS
Bynum goes into the deep end
Phil Jackson and Miami coach Pat Riley had nothing but kind words for each other on Thursday, as the surging Lakers downed the struggling Heat.
Before the game, Jackson was asked what he thought of a recent Sports Illustrated players poll which found that NBA players didn't exactly luuuv playing for the notoriously demanding Riles.
``I think Pat runs a tight ship. A lot of players I know who've played there, Lamar for example, thought he dramatically improved his game there,'' Jackson said.
A few minutes later, Odom confirmed as much:
``I was 24 and that's exactly what I needed,'' Odom said.
Riley in turn, was asked about his impressions of the Lakers:
``I think Phil has done an absolutely great job and then they made the trade of all trades and got Gasol and it put them over the top,'' Riley said. ``I'm very impressed by the other guys too. They have a lot of good young players who have matured and developed."
One of the several areas the Lakers have taken large leaps this season has been in their outside shooting. The Lakers shot 35.3 percent last year on 3-pointers, 16th in the league. This season, they're up to 37.5, good for seventh in the NBA.
I talked yesterday with special assistant coach Craig Hodges, the former NBA 3-point shooting champ who works with the perimeter shooters, about the progress of Jordan Farmar and Sasha Vujacic, who have become markedly more consistent this season.
Farmar, in his second season, is shooting 39.3 on 3-pointers, up from 32.8 percent last year. He's coming off a career-high four 3-pointers against Portland. Vujacic has improved each of his four seasons with the Lakers from 27 percent to 34.3 to 37.3 to this season's 44.1, which leads the team.
Farmar's improvement has been helped by better mechanics, which they spent his fiirst 7-8 months working on vigorously.
``Jordan’s a very assertive person, very aggressive in his nature,'' Hodges said. ``He wants to improve, and he wants to improve on every area of his game, and shooting is one of those things, especially somebody of his size -- you have to be able to stick open jump shots. That’s been something I’ve been trying to talk about from day one is the importance of your mechanics on your shot, trying to get it to be as close to the same every time, where it’s almost a cookie cutter effect. The more you work on it, the more you start to see the results within the game situation. That’s what’s happening for him now.''
For Vujacic, the emphasis has been on the mental approach -- being disciplined enough to stay with your mechanics and confident enough to shrug off misses.
``With Sasha, sometimes it takes players a little longer,'' Hodges said. ``We’ve been working on stuff for the last three years, as far as staying with the shot, not floating, making sure he finishes on every shot, making sure every shot is a quality jump shot. That’s the biggest part now is they’re starting to see some results in as far as the ball’s going in the basket.
``The middle of last year you could see his level of confidence, where you could see he knew he belonged. Sometimes as young players you can have trouble trying to find your way. The last year and a half, he’s been more focused on his determination to be a professional. It’s not just a game anymore, it’s a business.
``When you come out here, you have to be of a serious mindset so that you can be successful and have things happen that you want to happen. Especially if you’re a shooter – you can’t have a fragile temperament and worry about misses. That’s what I try to lend to these guys is to have some fun about shooting, but at the same time feel like every shot is going to go in.''
Because of the nature of the triangle offense, which is predicated on ball movement and spacing, most 3-pointers rarely require working to get your own shot.
``I never negate the fact that the system you’re running and the passes you’re getting from your teammates compliment the shooting,'' Hodges said. ``A good pass always leads to a good shot, especially in this system, you don’t need to put the ball on the floor to be a good shooter.
``That’s the beauty of this system. That’s the thing I’d like people to understand that even when you shoot the ball and it doesn’t go in the basket, that often times it’s an assist because you have big fellas around the basket who can clean it up because you shot the ball within the rhythm and the context of the offense.''
Hodges said Vujacic and Farmar have also come to understand their role in the offense -- that games like Farmar's 21-point outburst against Portland isn't going to be the norm.
``Your shots are going to be limited because of the nature of the team,'' Hodges said. ``Kobe’s going to get a lot of shots, Pau’s going to get a lot, Andrew, Lamar’s going to get his going at times. It’s all a matter of lending yourself into the team concept and knowing what you’re trying to accomplish as a unit. Everybody understands who our shooters are and everybody’s going to look for them when they’re open. We just have to be prepared to make jumps shots.''
Despite their improvement, when the playoffs roll around, Hodges expects that Farmar and Vujacic will have to prove themselves all over again -- that opponents will worry about slowing Bryant, Gasol, et. al.
``Definitely, there's no question about it,'' Hodges said. ``Shooting is a premium, especially in the playoffs. You have to make shots to open up some of the paint for Andrew and Pau, and I think that’s the beauty of this system. We have the least amount of adjustments to make in the playoffs because the nature of what we run, it’s not the screen and role, but we’re reading off what people throw at us. That’s what we’ve been doing all year. That’s the beauty of why Phil’s been so successful over the years. We’ve had to make the least amount of adjustments and allows us to play a consistent level of basketball throughout the playoffs.''
Or is it towering Sequoia speech?
Until Yao Ming announces who he's backing, Barack Obama has won the nation's tallest public endorsement -- Blazers' rookie Greg Oden announced on his blog this week that he's voting for Obama. The Illinois senator's campaign says Oden will stump for Obama, too.
Odom, who has missed the entire season after microfracture surgery, accompanied the Blazers to Los Angeles this week. I asked him about the brief phone conversation he had recently with Obama.
``My agency set it up, we were talking about the video that he made and there were questions about if I could be in the video, then it came up to talking with him, so that's what happened,'' Oden said.
``It was cool. It was very brief, it wasn’t like we were talking about politics. We just had a conversation, a lot about sports. He talked a lot about this team, He knew about LaMarcus [Aldridge], about Brandon [Roy]. It was good – even if it was quick.''
Oden, who is 20, will be voting for the first time. He said he doesn't follow politics closely and doesn't know many of the ins and outs of Obama's policy proposals, but he's read some of his thoughts on education, health care and civil rights. He said the opportunity to help elect an African-American president didn't play a role in his decision.
``I don’t really look at it like that,'' he said. `` I'm looking at the person who I feel that’s best to run this country. ``I don’t know a lot, but I know enough that that’s who I’m going to vote for.
``The way I look at it, he's talking about things for -- not my immediate family, but my other family. Things that are going to help them. I know I can take of me, my mother and my brother, but looking out for my grandmother, people I can’t always take care of all the time – things that are going to help them.''
Teaford on what passes for adversity with the Lakers these days.
Bresnahan on how the second unit stacks up against the Best in the West.
Turner on KOBE SCHEDULING SURGERY!!!!! . . . for September.
Zupke with more on the bench
Trevor Ariza was on the practice court Wednesday, trying to work on his shot while wearing a protective boot on his right foot as he tries to recover from a broken bone.
Phil Jackson was asked if he expects Ariza to be able to return to his role as a key contributor off the bench.
``I can’t guess on that,'' said Jackson, who expects him to return by April. ``We’re really hopeful that he will. With Trevor, his injury is such that when he does come back, it’s probably a matter of days to coming back and playing full bore. His process is a healing position. Once it’s healed, everything should go forward from there. His condition. He’s shooting. Still trying to keep himself in position where he can come out and play. He’ll have an opportunity to get in a rhythm.''
The Blazers may be fading -- the loss was their ninth in 11 games -- but this team looks like it's on the way to becoming a true force in the Western Conference. Even with last year's rookie of the year and this year's leading scorer, Brandon Roy, out with a right ankle sprain, imagine this lineup next year:
PF LaMarcus Aldridge -- Looking like Dwight Howard of the West
SF Travis Outlaw -- 6-foot-9, long and still quick enough to stay with Kobe Bryant
C Greg Oden -- If you think Andrew Bynum is a shot blocker . . .
SG Brandon Roy -- an All-Star in his second year, looking like Dwyane Wade of the West
PG Steve Blake/Jarrett Jack -- they could do better.
A capable versatile bench with Martell Webster looking like a protypical sixthman, James Jones, Channing Frye and Joel Pryzbilla are no worse than solid.
If the Blazers upgrade at point guard -- Sam Cassell might be a perfect fit, Beno Udrih wouldn't be bad, and Baron Davis and Allen Iverson could opt out -- and add a shooter or improve the ones they have, the scary part is that Oden, Roy, Aldridge, Outlaw and Webster are 20, 23, 22, 23 and 21. Yikes.
The Lakers clearly struggled at times with length and athleticism of the Blazers, needing to win the game at the defensive end. It was the first meeting of the season with Portland, but it hasn't been easy recently. The teams have now split their last six meetings over three seasons.
``You have to put it in perspective that Portland always gives us a hard time,'' said Rony Turiaf.
And why is that?
``I don't know. I don't know. I really don't know,'' said the Frenchman, shaking his head. `` All I know is every time we play them we have a hard time. You can look at the box scores, it's always like that. Regardless of who is on the roster, regardless of what has happened. We always have a hard time. I don't know why, though.''
With Farmar tying a career high with 21 points, including a career-best four 3-pointers, it was noted on press row what the UCLA backcourt would be like if he had stayed in Westwood, along with Arron Afflalo -- now a rookie with the Pistons who left school early.
Imagine, Russell Westbrook and Darren Collison -- two possible lottery picks this spring -- coming off the bench.
Then again, at USC, imagine Tim Floyd wouldn't mind teaming O.J. Mayo with Nick Young and Gabe Pruitt.
If it seems like a career night, it might be. Through three quarters, he has 16 points -- five shy of his career high. He's hit 6 of 7 shots -- including a career-high tying three 3-poiners.
Lakers lead 67-65 entering the fourth.
Kobe just picked up the Lakers' third technical foul of the night -- following Luke Walton and Phil Jackson. Bryant's came after an alley-oop one-handed dunk in which he was peeved at referee Kevin Fehr for not calling a foul on Joel Pryzbilla, who nudged Bryant has he was in the air. It's likely, though, that Fehr was shielded from seeing Pryzbilla's hand on Bryant's hip.
Perhaps the Lakers have, as we like to say, the red-ass.
This was Phil Jackson, pre-game on what he liked and didn't like about his team:
``We’re not as good a rebounding team as I’d like. Defensively, we still have some distance to go. We’ll know more about that if and when we get our players back and healthy. We have been taking care of the ball better, and that’s an exceptional value in a playoff situation where you want to get those turnovers down in around 10.
``The shooting is good, the free throw shooting can still improve. Our 3-point shooting and our offense is looking very good. Guys share the ball. Assist wise we’re at a level I’m sure must be in the top five in the league. Those things I like about this team. I think defensively we can get better.''
Interesting that thus far, the rebounding has been lacking. The Blazers -- center Joel Przybilla, in particular -- are killing the Lakers on the board, 24-16, and have seven offensive rebounds. On one sequence in the first half, they grabbed three offensive rebounds.
Odom picks up foul no. 4 in the first minute of the half, grabbing a defensive rebound, trying to start the fast break and before his third dribble flattening Martell Webster.
After finding themselves in a 27-12 hole, and Bryant and Odom saddled with two fouls, the reserves picked up the defense and thanks to the 3-point shooting of Jordan Farmer -- who was the beneficiary of good ball movement -- crawled back. Vujacic's 3-pointer puts the Lakers ahead, though at 40-39 this still has the feel of one that's going to crunch time.
It's early, just about midway through the first quarter and this has the vibe of a tough one for the Lakers. It's clear this isn't the Sonics, Hawks, Clipper and T-Wolves -- who the Lakers have beaten up on lately.
It's not just the Blazers good early ball movement, but they're long and athletic --- and getting after the Lakers defensively. Travis Outlaw, the lanky 6-9 small forward appears to be making Kobe a little uncomfortable, this being a relative term. So far, it's 15-10 at the 5:39 mark.
We shall see.
Said Phil, on Kobe's candidacy:
``I think LeBron is another candidate, Kevin Garnett obviously is the other candidate. But definitely Kobe is having an [MVP type season.] The real value of a super player is he makes other players better. You can see the emphasis in Kobe’s game to get people involved and make the rest of the team better.''
Some type of server problems -- apparently it's going to happen from time to time over the next few weeks -- waylayed the blog the last two days. But we're back -- for now.
He was expected to have further tests on his right calf this afternoon, the one he injured against the Clippers on Saturday night. Radmanovic traveled to Seattle, but didn't suit up.
Said Phil Jackson after Monday's brief workout:
``We’ll define it better [after the tests]. The one thing we do have is that he says it feels better. He was unable to play yesterday. We took him along anyway, just in case. Today he’s walking with much more ease.''
Gamers
Teaford in the Daily Breeze/Daily News
Bresnahan in the Times
Ding in the Register
Notebooks
Teaford on Fisher's minutes
Bresnahan on Vujacic's shooting
Here's what Kobe had to say about his ejection after the otherwise forgetable 111-91 win over Seattle. He was hit with his first technical foul by Brian Forte after he thought he was fouled going after an offensive rebound. Bryant continued after Forte, and despite the efforts of Derek Fisher to head him off, kept on chirping. Forte then tossed him -- Bryant's first ejection of the season.
According to Kobe:
“First tech, I didn’t say anything. I did not say a word to him.
Second tech was a different story.
Someone grabbed my arm. We go down the
other end of the floor and the next thing I know, I’ve got a
tech.”
Here's how Phil Jackson saw the ejection of Kobe by referee Brian Forte, the son of long-time NBA official Joe Forte, courtesy of beat writer Elliott Teaford:
“You don’t know what the action was down there, but there were a
couple of situations where we got caught in the position where guys were
coming over the back, and we were complaining about it at halftime,
about rebound situations that were not called. Seattle is an aggressive
team. They’re going to go get those balls if they’re free.
“I told (Bryant) he shouldn’t jump on Junior. His dad might carry a
grudge against him. That’s nepotism in our league. That’s Joe
Forte’s son. He’s got a little bit of the red-ass as we say.”
The same way David Stern gets a little bit of the red-ass when the integrity of NBA referees -- gamblers, aside -- is called into question. Phil's wallet will no doubt be lighter in the next day or two.
This nobody's-more-competitive-than-Kobe notion just got some more ammunition.
Or how else do you explain how when the Lakers are up 88-57 with four minutes left in the third quarter against hopelessly overmatched Seattle, and he's already got 21 points and 10 assists, that Kobe picks up two quick technicals and is tossed?
Perhaps too many pre-game cups of Seattle's finest?
In any event, about the only drama on the evening.
It's Oscars night, so it seems appropriate to talk about the character actors, er, role players.
Once again, the Lakers went 10-11 deep last night. Expect to see more of this for two reasons:
It will keep the stars fresh down the stretch and into the playoffs -- particularly when there's back-to-backs like tonight. The other is that they've been able to handle it.
Said Phil Jackson, when asked if he expects the bench to play like this consistently (the implication being when they play better teams than the Clippers):
``They’ll play like that if they get the minutes. They’re confident. In the playoffs, things will happen – it will be a little different. That’s always been the way it is. But right now they’re supporting our team in a good way in the regular season.''
Derek Fisher noted that while he could play 35-40 minutes per game, it's nice that he doesn't have to.
No, it's not the Catalan pronunciation of Ru-Paul, but it could be the Laker front court tandem once Bynum recovers. Jackson was asked about the possibility after Saturday night's game.
``That’s still to be known,'' he said. ``We won’t know until they’re on the court together how well they play. Pao has an outside shot. Guys have to play him out there. He can play the wing position, I think, quite comfortably. I think they can play in tandem for a considerable amount of time. Still the wait is for Andrew to be right. That’s the luxury that Pau gives us now.''
Translation: let's see San Antonio deal with that.
At times, you can almost see Kobe's eyes begin to roll before a question's even been asked. Especially if the word ``Shaq'' is in it.
But he turned out to be rather reflective after Saturday night's game when he was asked if last summer, amidst all the drama, if he ever envisioned it all working out like this -- the Lakers looking like the team to beat in the Western Conference.[ep
``Not at all,'' he said. “I think they had me buying Oprah’s penthouse or Michael’s house in
Chicago. No, I didn’t envision this. Absolutely not. It worked out
for the best. I didn’t want to leave here. It's just circumstances being what
they were, it was very difficult to see myself still being here.
Everything happens for a reason, and I’m very thankful that things worked out
here.''
Dan Dickau drove strong to the basket for an apparent layup, only to have Rony Turiaf -- his former Gonzaga teammate swat the shot all the way to the Lakers' bench. . . . A moment later, a couple of Rhodies went after each other -- Cuttino Mobley dunking on Lamar Odom.
As far as the Lakers are concerned, anyway.
Whatever went on in the locker room at halftime, the Lakers look like a new team -- an interested one, really.
No more lackadasical defense and an agressive, go-at-em offense. Kobe has his game face on.
Pao Gasol just dunked on Tim Thomas, who fouled him, and lo and behold, Luke Walton, got the rebound and put it in. One of Walton's few bright spots by the way. He's been eaten up by Al Thornton and even by Josh Powell. It's now 86-66.
Bynum's knee, Kobe's pinkie, Ariza's ankle and now . . . Radmanovic's calf. He left with 3:36 in the first quarter and will not returned
With Odom on a rebounding run -- he's had 11, 15, 16, 10 and 18 in his last five games -- Jackson was asked if he the type of guy who could compete for a rebounding title?
``No,'' Jackson said.
Then he elaborated.[ep
``The guys who are [leading] rebounders they get offensive rebounds. Lamar doesn’t get a lot of offensive rebounds, unless they’re his own misses. Dennis [Rodman] would get six, five offensive rebounds in a game. Add that with your defensive rebounds, that gives you an advantage. Lamar a lot of times is out on the perimeter, so he doesn’t have as many opportunities.''
Phil Jackson learned about Kaman's absence when he was asked how it would impact tonight's game.
``I didn’t know he wasn’t playing,'' Jackson said. ``Thanks for the information. He’s an interior defender. He can be a problem if you’re going to the basket. Offensively, it takes away a post up opportunity for them. That’s a big part, but we know they’ve got plenty of guys that can post with [Cuttino] Mobley sitting down in there and [Tim] Thomas has even posted a little bit in recent games.''
Clippers center Chris Kaman is out after apparently injuring his back last night against Utah.
Having drawn even with Phoenix for the Pacific lead and within a game of New Orleans for the best record in the Western Conference, the Lakers have a yawning opportunity to jump to the head of the class in the race for home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
They begin a nine-game stretch on Saturday against the Clippers in which they'll play just one team that would be in the playoffs if they begin now -- Dallas. The others are home-and-away with the Clippers, Portland and Sacramento, at Seattle, and Miami.[ep
Meanwhile, Phoenix and New Orleans won't have it easy. The Hornets play smokin' hot Houston tonight, then San Antonio, Washington, Phoenix, Utah, Washington -- all playoff teams. And the Suns play Boston tonight, then Detroit, Memphis, New Orleans.
So, it's a good opportunity for the Lakers to put some distance between themselves and the Hornets and Suns. Of course, in the West, you always have to keep an eye on the rear-view mirror. San Antonio is a half-game behind and as hot as the Lakers are, they're only four games ahead of ninth-place Golden State.
Well, nothing like blowing up your team at the trading deadline.
It sure looks like that's what Cleveland did in the 11-player deal with Chicago and Seattle. Here's what everybody gets:
Cleveland: Ben Wallace, Wally Szczerbiak, Delonte West, Joe Smith and a 2009 second-round pick from Chicago.
Chicago: Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Cedric Simmons and Shannon Brown.
Seattle: Ira Newble, Donyell Marshall and Adrian Griffin. (Translation: cap space, cap space, cap space).
While getting Wallace and Szczerbiak may generate the most headlines, Smith and West should be a big help. Smith gives Cleveland someone who has been playing very well of late and in the playoffs can at least pretend to defend Kevin Garnett and Rasheed Wallace away from the basket. West -- who looked like a promising prospect in Boston before languishing in Seattle -- may be invigorated and help a suspect backcourt with his perimeter shooting and defense.
The Spurs dealt Brent Barry, their leading 3-point shooter who hadn't played since Jan. 24 because of a calf injury, to acquire Kurt Thomas from Seattle.
Would the Spurs have dealt a healthy Barry?
"If the world was flat, would you fly around it?" Spurs general manager R.C. Buford told the San Antonio News-Express. "Brent was playing really well early in the year. There's been a 25-game period where we've missed him throughout. Had he continued to play well, would we have probably considered different circumstances? Maybe so. But I don't know how you could say."
Speculation is that Barry could be back in San Antonio soon anyway. The Sonics could waive him, taking advantage of his expiring contract, and then in 30 days he could re-join the Spurs.
Random thoughts . . .
For all the havoc he'll create on offense with Shaq around, if the Suns are going to get anywhere Amare Stoudamire better demonstrate at least an interest in playing defense. . . .
How's this for an acid test on the Big Cactus experiment: First, the Lakers. Then three of the Suns' next four are against Boston, Detroit and New Orleans. . . .
Nobody's worried about Kobe's finger anymore. But what happens over the next six weeks? . . .
Lamar Odom sure is looking a lot like Scottie Pippen . . .
Shaq, with an inadvertant elbow, wasn't the only one to give Raja Bell a headache. Kobe's old foil not only gave up 41, he was shutout himself -- missing all three 3-pointers he took. . . .
Stat of the night: as breakneck as the pace was, the teams combined for only 21 turnovers (Lakers 9, Suns 12) -- or two less than the Knicks had last night. . . .
Sasha Vujacic, who hit a pair 3-pointers and contributed 15 points off the bench, had better get used to hitting open shots. Same goes for Radmanovic, Farmar, and others members of the supporting cast. Phoenix allowed Bryant, Gasol and Odom to take about 70 percent of the Lakers' shots (61 of 92) and free throws (18 of 26). Don't expect that to happen in the playoffs.
Sasha Vujacic
Here's what was written on last night's Game of the Year that actually might have been. . . .
GAMERS
Teaford in the Daily News/Daily Breeze
Turner in the Press-Enterprise
COLUMNS
Oberjuerge on what looked like a Throwback Shaq
Elliott on Shaq in transition:
Miller hopes this isn't the last we see of Suns and Lakers
NOTEBOOKS
One trade goes down a couple weeks before the trading deadline -- Pau Gasol to the Lakers -- and the dominoes continue to fall like, well, dominoes. Wednesday, about 24 hours before the deadline, the Spurs are about to finalize a deal to obtain Kurt Thomas from Seattle for Brent Barry, Francisco Elson and a 2009 first-round pick, a league source told Yahoo.com.[ep
Thomas isn't Gasol, Shaq or Jason Kidd, and is strictly a role player at this point in his career. But this move shouldn't be underestimated. Thomas is a tough post defender and has always had an excellent 15-foot jumper, which should take some heat off Tim Duncan at both ends of the floor.
Looks like a typical Spurs move: more smart than sexy.
It sure looked like Bill O'Reilly who was sitting courtside near the Lakers' bench, but it probably wasn't. It's hard to imagine O'Reilly would have been caught taking a position to the left of Phil Jackson.
The sarcasm should be thick this afternoon and evening when Phil Jackson and Mike D'Antoni step before the microphones and recorders, but Jackson actually rolled out a compliment toward the Phoenix coach when he was talking about Shaquille O'Neal's role in the Suns' offense.
``D'Antoni is a real technican,'' Jackson said. ``He's real good at figuring out the strengths of guys' games. I'm sure he's going to find something for Shaq that will be difficult to defend against.''
Such as . . . making an inbounds pass?
Or not. Irving Azoff sat courtside for the Hawks' game last night and his guest was none other than Knicks owner James Dolan. Wonder if Dolan was struck with any sort of epiphany . . . so that's what good basketball looks like. Then again, Isiah Thomas is still coach.
Coby Karl worked like a dog last night. He played 37 minutes for the D-Fenders in their Developmental League game, notching 15 points, five rebounds, six assists and four turnovers in a 104-100 win over Tulsa. The game finished about 6 p.m., which was enough time for Karl to shower, put on his Lakers' uniform, grab a quick bite to eat and head out to warm-up with the Lakers, who tipped off against Atlanta just after 7:30 p.m.
When the game turned into a blowout, Karl found himself playing the final 6:08 in which he scored five points, including a breakaway dunk.
Jordan Farmar turned the same trick last season, but he usually had a few hours between games. Karl said he was tired during warm ups, but woke up when the game began.[ep
"When we were younger, we'd play tripleheaders and doubleheaders in AAU ball all the time," Karl said.