Archive for the 'Practice News' Category

Lakers Set For Northern Cali Trip

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on March 14, 2010
in Practice News
. Closed

59027592After stopping a four-game road losing streak with a Friday night victory in Phoenix, the Lakers will look to build a streak in the other column when they head to Northern California for Monday-Tuesday road clashes with Golden State and Sacramento.

On paper, the Warriors (18-47) and Kings (22-44) are among the league’s worst teams, the Lakers having already beaten the Kings twice and Warriors thrice.

But both wins against Sacramento came down to the wire, first a 112-103 double overtime victory in the state capital on Dec. 26 and second a 109-108 buzzer-beating win courtesy of Kobe Bryant’s three-pointer in front of the Kings’ bench. The victories came easier against Golden State (a total of 49 points, in fact), but the Warriors have played better at home of late, taking Portland down to the wire before a late loss on Thursday and defeating Toronto on Saturday.

While the Kings will surely bang with and bruise the Lakers, the Warriors will try and entice them into the kind of wide-open, free-wheeling game that helped them beat the Raptors.

“(It’s about) the pace of the game,” said Phil Jackson. “Players get used to playing the game with a five- to eight-second pace where shots are going up, and that gets contagious. That happened to us in Phoenix on (Friday) in the third quarter where we got shooting three-pointers at their level.”

Jackson explained that falling into the Suns’ style helped their opponent cut into their lead, as such, L.A.’s coaching staff will stress the inside game of Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol … even if that’s not even a little bit out of the ordinary.

“It’s always part of the game plan to give it to Bynum and Gasol,” said Ron Artest. Fair enough.

59196894Bynum has been particularly solid of late. In consecutive wins over Toronto and Phoenix, the youngest Laker has gone 8-of-12 from the field for 22 and 18 points, respectively, bullying his way to the basket for an array of dunks and layups. Add 15 total rebounds, three blocks and no turnovers, not to mention an improvement on defense notable enough to garner Phil Jackson’s explicit approval.

“I like what he’s done defensively,” Jackson said after the win in Phoenix. “I thought he’s played pretty good defense.”

Since Golden State is missing nearly all of its big men - center Andris Biedrins is done for the season, backup Ronny Turiaf is out with a sore knee and forward Anthony Randolph has been out for most of the season - Bynum certainly won’t face a lot of opposition in terms of raw size.

The Kings, however, can throw some bigger bodies at L.A., such as Spencer Hawes, Jason Thompson and newly-acquired Carl Landry, who gave the Lakers problems while playing for the Houston Rockets.

Aside from getting the ball inside, Jackson offered some keys to winning both games.

“The big thing is loose balls, turnovers, rebounds,” he said. “You (want to) give teams one attempt so that you’re getting the majority of the shots and you’re limiting them by not giving them open floor opportunities.”

The importance of securing wins is evident to the Lakers, well aware that Denver trails by 3.0 games and Dallas by 3.5 in the West.

Derek Fisher Weighs In

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on March 11, 2010
in Derek Fisher and Practice News
. Closed

D071725007.jpgWhat’s the best way to figure out the general mood of the Lakers locker room?

That’s easy.

Have a chat with Derek Fisher.

What follows is a conversation we had after Monday’s practice, and below that selected postgame comments from Fish after L.A.’s Tuesday evening win against Toronto:

MT: The three-game losing streak was, of course, not exactly what you had in mind. But it doesn’t seem to have affected the team’s confidence in the larger picture…
Fisher: No, (that’s right), but right now I don’t think it’s about confidence. It’s about doing things out on the floor. In some respects, because we still carry so much confidence, we’re still maybe not pressing (the pedal) to the mat in terms of the sense of urgency that we’ve shown in some games. We haven’t been able to stretch that out over two, three weeks, and that’s tough to do in the NBA season. That’s tough to do after experiencing what we have. We lost in the Finals in 2008, won in 2009 and we’re on a quest to win another title. That’s a lot of basketball, it’s a long three-year process, so you’re going to have some ups and downs. But if we can stay healthy and continue to get healthier, we feel OK in terms of where we’ll to be. We still want to have home court advantage in the West, and having (it) overall would be the best of both worlds.

59783005MT: It seems that in many games - especially of late - you’ve been getting the respective best shots other teams have to offer. How would you describe it?
Fisher: I think that’s true in some cases, and I think some teams have gotten better from last season. But also in particular on the road, where it has impacted us to be honest is the fact that some teams have been hit by lower attendance numbers, but when we show up the building is sold out, everybody in the city is talking about the game the whole week. So the pride, the competitive nature and intensity of the team we’re playing that night is also going to go up. So then they go from being a good and competitive team to maybe playing great that night. And since we’re not playing the best that we can play at this point - not that we won’t be playing our best basketball - we haven’t been able to really counter act that. We still like where we are considering everything that we’ve been through, but we just want to get things going back in a more positive direction.

MT: How do you put the rigors of the regular season in perspective, and balance internal and external expectations?
Fisher: It’s a combination of two things. We aren’t necessarily satisfied or OK with how we’re playing or with the results in particular with the last month and a half, close to two months. We just haven’t played good, consistent basketball. I think that’s one piece of it, in terms of our own expectations. And the other piece is, when you are the champions there is a certain level of expectation externally that comes with it. So when you’re going good, everybody’s rolling with you. When you’re not, everybody has things to say. It’s a part of the process, and when you’re here long enough, you figure it out.

Fisher’s postgame comments from Tuesday night’s win over Toronto:

When the giant appears vulnerable or there’s a chink in the armor or there is an open wound, people have a tendency to go at that. Thus far we haven’t come across as invincible or unbeatable, so of course teams are going to believe that they can win … How we play, with efficiency, focus, concentration, that’s what teams need to feel … We’re not playing at the level that we’re capable of playing. I don’t know exactly why - I think you could point to a number of different things - but I think we’re all confident and optimistic that we can figure it out, and we’re going to stay the course.

Lakers Return From Trip, Remain Confident

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on March 8, 2010
in Practice News
. Closed

58932097Since the Lakers lost three straight games for the first time since acquiring Pau Gasol in February of 2008, the players and coach Phil Jackson knew they’d have to answer a round of “What’s wrong” questions when arriving back in Los Angeles.

Yet after L.A.’s 96-94 loss in Orlando on Sunday afternoon, Kobe Bryant may have already summed things up.

“We didn’t win the game but I saw what I wanted to see,” he said of a game he was within an inch of tying with a late jumper. “If we play with this type of effort, it will be hard for a team to beat us four times in a series. Here we competed and we have to take this mindset and this attitude and push it forward to the rest of the season.”

Bryant echoed some of those same sentiments after Monday’s practice, adding that sometimes during the regular season in particular, the team’s issue is more mental than physical.

“We’re very talented and we know what we’re capable of doing,” he explained. “Sometimes you don’t believe you can lose until it actually happens. It sneaks up on you, and that’s something that we can’t allow to happen.”

Part of that sneaking up has to do with many of L.A.’s opponents, especially on the road, giving the defending champions their best shot.

“It’s not surprising that you’re the defending world champions, you’re the Lakers, it’s going to be higher intensity, higher pressure,” said Derek Fisher. “You’re going to have sell outs, which is (not always the case) before we get there … It’s just part of it.”

That’s not to say that the Lakers wouldn’t like to improve, especially when it comes to simple execution.

“The ball has to move more,” said Pau Gasol of L.A.’s offense. “That’s going to give us a better rhythm, better looks, easier shots.”

“We just have to execute better, knock down shots,” added Bryant. “We’re getting shots that we want, really good looks, they’re (just not) falling for us.”

The Lakers are confident that the final 18 games will provide ample opportunity to ramp things up leading into the playoffs.

“We just have to get it together on both ends of the floor,” said the Spaniard. “With this team, the players that we have here and the coaching staff, we shouldn’t lose.”

The team’s first chance to show with a result what they know in their heads they can do comes Tuesday against the Toronto Raptors at STAPLES Center.

Lakers Hold Practice In Orlando

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on March 6, 2010
in Practice News
. Closed

59174164The Lakers held practice at Rollins College in Orlando on Saturday afternoon in preparation for Sunday’s showdown with the Magic, returning to the city in which they secured the franchise’s 15th championship with consecutive wins in Games 4 and 5 of he 2009 NBA Finals.

While specific preparation for the Magic took place since the team won’t hold shootaround in the morning due to the 11:30 a.m. Pacific tip, Phil Jackson said that the team also spent some time discussing how to get back to its defensive principles.

After consecutive road losses to Miami and Charlotte, Jackson addressed a team conversation in which Kobe Bryant, among other players, was vocal.

“We’re just working with some principles that right now have escaped us as far as what we consider good defense,” said Jackson. “We’re working with those principles, and (Bryant) interjected and brought up a notion of determination.”

Bryant declined to relay to the media his message to his teammates, but when pressed further by assembled media members, Jackson elaborated.

“(There is) a willfulness that you have to have in this game, and there is also flexibility,” explained the head coach. “Willfulness carries the day about 80 percent of the time. There’s strategy, and then there is getting the job done.

“I opened it up for how we’re going to solve some of the problems we have, basically penetration off screen roll, which has been a nemesis and is for most teams.”

57658078Screen-roll defense will certainly be a factor against the Magic, who have multiple players capable of excelling in pick-and-roll sets, such as Jameer Nelson, Vince Carter and Dwight Howard. While Nelson missed last season’s Eastern Conference Finals against Cleveland and wasn’t himself in the Finals, Carter was the key offseason addition, joining Orlando in place of Hedo Turkoglu.

“Vince can essentially do the same things as Hedo did in terms of creating for others,” said Bryant. “Obviously Hedo is 6-9*, but Vince has his strengths too.”
*Carter is 6-6.

With an added hope that Carter can handle some of the playmaking role particularly in fourth quarters, Orlando is not lacking for motivation to return to the Finals, no matter how hard it is to make it back.

“Not many teams come back again after they lose in the Finals,” said Jackson. “It’s very hard because the disappointment is so great. In all the years I coached with the Bulls there was only one that came back and that was Utah. But, you can use it as an impetus too. I think Orlando has made changes and they’ve looked really good at times. I think they’re still there, still one of the teams.”

The Lakers certainly expect nothing less than Orlando’s A game in their first trip back to Amway Arena, where a hungry team and its crowd surely await.

MAGIC RIGHT THERE WITH CLEVELAND
I asked Phil Jackson why Orlando, despite beating Cleveland - with whom they match up very well - in the Eastern Finals last year even without Jameer Nelson, hasn’t gotten anywhere near the 2010 Finals buzz as the Cavs, and if he has additional respect for the Magic. Here’s what Phil said:

It’s who comes into these playoffs (after) these last 20 games playing well and in good health, and have all their weapons available to them that’s going to make the difference. I think (Orlando) has the ability to beat Cleveland. They know that, and Cleveland’s been trying to find personnel to match that, and did so with the trades they made at the All-Star break. They’re trying to arm themselves for the possibility.

Artest Going Streaking … On Defense

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on March 1, 2010
in Practice News and Ron Artest
. Closed

59764689

Phil Jackson needed just one word to describe Ron Artest’s effort against Carmelo Anthony and the Denver Nuggets after L.A.’s 95-89 win on Sunday: “remarkable.”

High praise from Caesar, indeed.

In our postgame wrap of the Lakers win, we detailed Artest’s performance:

Sparking that defense was the terrific individual effort from Ron Artest, who was draped so close to Carmelo Anthony all night that ‘Melo may as well have worn cologne named “Ron Ron.” Anthony made only 7-of-19 field goal attempts, turned the ball over eight times and fouled out while trying to create space from Artest late in the fourth quarter. Artest tied a season high with six steals, and even went off for 17 points himself (’Melo had 21) thanks in part to four 3-pointers, plus four boards and four assists.

Not bad.

“It was just about playing decent and a lot of effort,” explained Artest. “(Anthony) is definitely one of the better players in the NBA, but when I am hungry I don’t really worry about the offensive players even if they have a good game. I know that if I am doing my job, we should be OK.”

Artest, citing improved conditioning due to his trimming more than 10 pounds (and counting) off his frame, also pointed out that he’s held the last six individual offensive players he’s faced since the All-Star break below their respective averages, which is a constant goal for the Queens, New York, native.

TO READ THE REST OF THE STORY, HEAD OVER TO OUR PRACTICE REPORT

Lakers Take Thursday Off

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on February 25, 2010
in Practice News
. Closed

59062825The Lakers will hold no official practice on Thursday, opting instead for rest leading into a Friday-Sunday slate of games against Philadelphia and Denver at STAPLES Center.

As is customary, however, several players will congregate at L.A.’s practice facility for unofficial work outs, lifting sessions and treatment for various ailments. This group often includes but is not limited to L.A.’s non starters such as Jordan Farmar, Shannon Brown, D.J. Mbenga, Adam Morrison, Josh Powell and Luke Walton.

Among the players that could use a bit of rest is Kobe Bryant, who after 18 days away from NBA games played about 40 minutes in consecutive games at Memphis and Dallas.

“He was probably a little fatigued and tried to help other guys get going,” said Phil Jackson of his guard that scored 20 points and narrowly missed a game-tying three in the final minute.

Bryant and his full complement of teammates will head back to official work at Friday morning’s shootaround, when they’ll prepare for the 76ers.

We’ll be on hand to speak with assistant coach Brian Shaw for a video preview of the matchup.

Monday’s Practice Update

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on February 15, 2010
in Phil Jackson and Practice News
. Closed

Lakers head coach Phil Jackson met with reporters for the first time after the All-Star break on Monday in L.A. after a full session that included participation from Kobe Bryant (ankle) and Andrew Bynum (hip), both of whom are expected to play against Golden State on Tuesday.

Thanks to 710 ESPN’s Beto Duran, who provided the audio as Lakers.com was en route from All-Star in Dallas, here is a synopsis of Jackson’s comments:

- For starters, here are Phil’s comments after a question about if he were satisfied with how Bryant moved around: “I think so. He hasn’t played in two weeks, so there (were) a lot of things that he was trying out, trying to figure out, passes that went awry and shots he was reluctant to shoot. But he’ll come (along). He’ll come.

- The head coach said that the Mavericks trade with the Wizards improved Dallas, giving them more depth in the front court through Brendan Haywood and another scorer in Butler. “I think they helped themselves in that trade” was the quote. However, as Jackson elaborated, the move doesn’t really affect the Lakers or the team’s potential activity or lack there of around the trade deadline.

- Overall, the practice didn’t please Jackson, who said that the players looked like they’d jut gotten out of school or knew that recess was coming. That’s natural, however, after a layoff, and he thinks the team will be fine to go against Golden State on Tuesday.

- Luke Walton’s back injury will keep him out for an indefinite amount of time, though Jackson hopes to have him back sometime later in the season. He mentioned more potential minute for players like Sasha Vujacic, who changed the game in Utah (said Phil), and Adam Morrison.

- The team’s focus: “I put four games up on the board (Golden State, Boston, Memphis and Dallas), and we want to stay focused on short term right now,” said Jackson. Of course, gaining home court advantage and staying healthy are always key areas of focus.

Practice Notes From Boston

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on January 30, 2010
in Kobe Bryant, On The Road, Pau Gasol, Phil Jackson and Practice News
. Closed

Practice in BostonWhile winning three straight games has made the road a bit less weary for the Lakers*, the team was nonetheless a bit on the tired side after a morning flight out of Philadelphia to Boston prior to the team’s first full practice since the current trip began on January 20.
*Eleven of 13 days and seven of eight cities: check.

We took some notes during pre-practice interviews with Phil Jackson, Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol to make sure you didn’t miss anything important:

PHIL JACKSON
- Jackson explained that the Lakers - Celtics rivalry is still alive, even if it’s different from how it was back in the 1960’s and 1980’s. “It’s a more civilized crowd,” he said, after referencing old fighting in the stands, beer throwing and the like.

- To Phil, Ron Artest can certainly continue to play as well as he did in Philadelphia. Jackson quipped that perhaps it was due to the presence of Artest’s father, though we learned last night that Artest is simply feeling healthy, finally.

- Jackson failed to attribute too much to Boston’s two-game losing streak through Orlando and Atlanta. “They’re still a team to be reckoned with in the playoffs,” he said.

- Kevin Garnett missed the first nine games in January with a knee injury and may not be back to 100 percent, but Jackson said that L.A. will still approach him as if he were. “He’s still a rover defensively, and he’s still a guy that’s going to hit those shots from 20 feet - you have to account for that.”

KOBE BRYANT
- Bryant said that he’s feeling OK after tweaking his knee and ankle in Friday evening’s win at Philly. He explained that it was his knee that hurt at first, but he simply walked it off until the pain was gone about five minutes later. His ankle began to get sore as the game wore on, but is not an issue for Bryant, who said he’s looking forward to trading blows with the Celtics.

- To Bryant, L.A. simply needs to match Boston’s intensity and energy on Sunday. It’s not so much about playing a specific style (i.e. a physical style), but bringing effort.

- The 2008 Finals loss isn’t something Bryant really thinks about; he focuses more on the fact that Boston simply plays very well at home.

- Bryant said that his finger is feeling about 80 percent better than it was at its worst point, and demonstrated to reporters that he has a bit better range of motion. Of course, it still looked pretty swollen, but to Bryant it had undergone “an improvement.”

PAU GASOL
- On the affect of losing in the Finals: “Last season we played the way we were supposed to. We played hard, and we carried the frustration from the year before. Hopefully we’ll do the same (on Sunday). It’s a game we look forward to, a game that’s going to be extremely hard.”

- Gasol said that while this is certainly a game L.A. would like to win, it’s not something that’s going to define a season one way or the other. Jackson and Bryant have echoed that sentiment as well.

- On attacking Kevin Garnett: “My understanding is that his leg is not completely healthy. I’ve seen him play, and I don’t know how much he’s struggling and hurting with it, because his injury was never clear to the public. But I’m just going to try and be aggressive with him no matter how his leg is doing. He’s playing, he’s a competitor and he wants to help out his team; I think he’s a good leader, and his team needs him.”

SHANNON BROWN
- Since Brown was traded just a few days after the team’s win in Boston last season, he’s yet to face the Celtics while wearing a Lakers jersey. Yet he already realizes that the stakes are different: “I never had the chance to play in this matchup, but I’m definitely excited to be apart of it. You still have to take the approach of respective them as a basketball team while just playing our own game. But maybe a little bit more focused.”

Thursday Practice Notes

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on December 31, 2009
in Practice News
. Closed

59062895The Lakers resumed practice after a Wednesday away from the gym, in preparation for a rematch against the Sacramento Kings on Friday afternoon.

A few jottings from the media session:

- Ron Artest spent some time shooting and going through other basketball activities, but did not run, and continues to experience dizziness from his Christmas Day concussion. Phil Jackson said that it’s “very doubtful” that Artest will start against the Kings.

- Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher both opined on how much the Lakers miss Artest. Fisher noted that aside from Artest’s obvious physical strengths, it’s the dogged mental approach and general intensity that L.A. feels lacking. In other words, Artest’s play is contageous.

- Jackson mentioned that the contributions from Shannon Brown, Jordan Farmar and Sasha Vujacic have been helpful in Artest’s, though as always he’d like to see more consistency.

- Phil on the big lineup: “They get off to some pretty slow starts,” adding that he “might” consider a different lineup.

- Josh Powell missed practice with an upper respiratory condition similar to the one with which Andrew Bynum dealt in the past few weeks. Powell, the primary locker room DJ, was missed as Metallica blasted loudly out of the weight room (Adam Morrison was in charge).

Pigeon Invades Phoenix; Kobe Unconcerned

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on December 27, 2009
in Kobe Bryant, Miscellaneous and Practice News
. Closed

After L.A.’s Sunday afternoon practice concluded at US Airways Center in Phoenix, Kobe Bryant emerged from the training room to address the Lakers’ beat writers, all of whom were soon to be in for an odd occurrence.

Standing at the floor level in the outer tunnel around the arena floor, Bryant spent a few minutes talking about his elbow (”It’s fine”), Steve Nash and the Suns (”I’m anxious to see how we respond to [the challenge]“) and such.

Suddenly, and out of nowhere, a lone pigeon literally flew towards the cluster before altering its flight pattern about 30 feet away (where’s Manu Ginobili when you need him!!).

As a few of the reporters jumped to the side (the natural reaction of most human beings), Bryant simply stood still … expressionless, unfazed, uninterested.

Naturally.

After all, pigeons are no threat to black mambas.