Before the first of four “Battle for L.A.” - eh, on second thought, that’s kind of a lame phrase - takes place at STAPLES Center, we put a mic in front of Lakers head coach Phil Jackson and forward Josh Powell.
To the media, Jackson emphasized his team’s need to continue what was a terrific defensive effort on opening night, and said that he and his staff think they understand what the Clippers are going to bring to the table.
Afterwards, I spent a few minutes with Powell (and Young Geezy) since he played for the Clips last year, even though only five players remain from their 2007-08 roster.
Here’s Phil & JP:
Phil Jackson Pre-Game: Clippers [7:38m]:
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Josh Powell Pre-Game: Clippers [3:12m]:
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Lakers head coach Phil Jackson said prior to Friday evening’s game in Ontario that both Kobe Bryant and Sasha Vujacic would play against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Jackson expects Vujacic to see significant time after missing the previous seven preseason games with his ankle injury, while Bryant will play just enough to keep his hyperextended knee - which is apparently close to 100 percent already - loose.
While some question whether Bryant should even test the knee in a relatively meaningless preseason game, Jackson said that Bryant knows his body well enough at this stage of his career to make such a decision.
Certainly both pieces of information regarding Kobe and Sasha are good news for the Lakers. On the other hand, forward Josh Powell will be held out of tonight’s game due to the same strained left hamstring that caused him to miss Thursday night’s win against Charlotte. Powell did tell me that he’s “definitely” going to be ready for the season opener, and we’ll see if the training staff concurs next week.
Standard Podcast [1:48m]:
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Kobe Bryant, Sasha Vujacic and Josh Powell will all be in street clothes for L.A.’s Thursday evening contest between the Lakers and Charlotte Bobcats.
Bryant said before the game that his knee is a little sore, but he remains quite pleased that the hyperextension was nothing at all serious. He’s listed as day-to-day, and could possibly play tomorrow night in Ontario … Though we shouldn’t be shocked if he doesn’t. We’ll certainly be shocked if he doesn’t start in Tuesday’s season opener.
Vujacic, on the other hand, told me that he is going to play tomorrow night, as he’s intent upon getting at least one preseason game under his belt before the regular season opener against Portland.
Offseason acquisition Powell suffered a strained left hamstring Tuesday night in San Diego, and is also day-to-day.
Notes from Phil Jackson’s post-practice media session on 10/01/08
When asked about Andrew Bynum’s performance so far Phil replied “Don’t ask”, but eventually elaborated (slightly) by saying “I thought Andrew was tired today so I don’t want to say anything about it.”
Although the Lakers are currently running two-a-day practices, by league mandate they are only allowed three and a half hours of actual practice time with contact. The rest of the time is used learning offensive patterns, defensive slide drills and conditioning. Phil mentioned that he wouldn’t mind having one long session, but the team’s fitness level isn’t up to that right now.
Trevor Ariza’s jump shot is being described by Jackson as adequate. “I don’t think anybody’s going to consider him a threat. I think he’s got an adequate jump shot that can keep people honest with it. I’m impressed with his abilities to make the jump shot. However, that’s not the strength of his game. His game’s going to be getting out there, being a slasher.”
On Josh Powell: “He’s impressed us a lot. He’s coming in playing hard. He’s got a lot of tenacity. He refuses to be boxed out. You’ve got to really put an effort into keeping him off the boards. He’s creating a lot of problems with our big guys, they know they’ve got a tiger down there after the rebound. He seems to have an idea of what we’re trying to do even though he’s only been here for one day. He seems relatively comfortable playing in our offense.”
10/01/08 - Phil Jackson (4:25):
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