February 15th: Rudy T finds peace of mind scouting for Lakers. Game Preview, Lakers & Hawks. Tomjanovich Named Director Of Scouting For USA Basketball.

 
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Phil
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 11:18 pm    Post subject: February 15th: Rudy T finds peace of mind scouting for Lakers. Game Preview, Lakers & Hawks. Tomjanovich Named Director Of Scouting For USA Basketball.

Rudy T finds peace of mind scouting for Lakers

By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

LOS ANGELES — Having always known people even better than he does basketball, Rudy Tomjanovich noticed the expression, that look of doubt, that slipped out in front of him.

Tomjanovich was on his way to Oklahoma City after a night of scouting in Memphis, Tenn. Chatting in the Memphis airport, in a conversation not unlike what undoubtedly had become his routine as he takes his place courtside every night, he was asked how things were after all the turns his life has taken the past three years.

"I'm as happy," he said, "as I've ever been."

Now, anyone who has seen Tomjanovich raise his arms in triumph, anyone who has heard his loud laugh or was there that night he held the NBA championship trophy and so joyfully and memorably spoke of "the heart of a champion" might wonder how he could be as happy as he has ever been. The bar is raised pretty high for that.

But few consider how people feel and why they feel that way more than Tomjanovich. Happiness comes in many forms, from the elation of the championships, to the relief of the Olympic gold medal.

Peace apparently ranks up there.

"My life is a lot calmer internally," said Tomjanovich, 57. "I work for the Lakers, and I want us to win, but before I would watch the films and try to find ways. How was I going to stop that team and that guy? There's not all that extra mental stuff going on. It's a lot more peaceful life.

"I relish being in this role, a worker among workers. There's nothing wrong with that at all. It's an honorable thing to be. There was a time when it was my calling to stand in front. Now, I'm happy to be part of the team, a spoke in the wheel."


Last edited by Phil on Mon Feb 27, 2006 7:15 pm; edited 3 times in total
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Phil
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 15, 2006 6:31 am    Post subject:

Lakers do evaluation, find room to improve
Parker says the players and Jackson agree that the team has 'underachieved.'

By AL BALDERAS
The Orange County Register

EL SEGUNDO – There was a recurring theme coming from the Lakers as they took turns shuffling in and out of individual meetings with Coach Phil Jackson on Tuesday.

The Lakers take a 26-25 record into tonight's game against the Atlanta Hawks and will enter this weekend's All-Star break at .500 or better. But the players and Jackson agreed that .500 is not good enough.

"We definitely underachieved," guard Smush Parker said. "We've let a lot of games this season slip between our fingers. I feel that we're nowhere near our potential and we just have to get better.

"Hopefully the second half of the season will bring us a lot more victories."
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Phil
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 15, 2006 6:34 am    Post subject:

Staples crowd rattled Brown
By Ross Siler, Staff Writer

EL SEGUNDO - On the Lakers' first possession in Monday night's game, Kwame Brown found himself with the ball and an open shot from the elbow. He passed up the shot, however, and slid the ball to Brian Cook, who knocked down a 13-footer.

It turned out to be the highlight of the game for Brown, who went on to miss five shots in the first quarter and finish scoreless, with Lakers coach Phil Jackson lamenting afterward that he wished he could expect any consistency out of the fifth-year forward.

Back at practice Tuesday, Jackson said Brown's night started going south as soon as he sensed the Staples Center crowd turning on him.

"It was the fact the crowd booed him," Jackson said. "I think that affected him. Once the crowd got irritated, he stopped wanting to have the ball. You've got to want to have the ball in this game. That's something that we have to go back to again and revisit."

Brown twice was blocked in the quarter by Utah's Andrei Kirilenko and fumbled out-of-bounds a pass from Lamar Odom that should have been a dunk. He went to the bench with 3:54 left in the quarter, Jackson getting him out of the game before things got ugly.
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Phil
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 15, 2006 6:36 am    Post subject:

Odom's Review Mixed
By Mike Bresnahan, Times Staff Writer

Note to unhappy Laker followers: They're unhappy too.

One by one, the veterans have met with Laker Coach Phil Jackson for sessions lasting from 30 to 45 minutes, exchanging ideas, visions and frustrations.

A common thread in every meeting was the underachieving ways of a 26-25 team. "All of them that I've met with have said that," Jackson said Wednesday.

The Lakers lost seven games in which they were leading or tied in the final minute of the fourth quarter, a template of a team that can't win close ones and subsequently can't be counted on for a playoff appearance.

They finally ended a 2-6 skid with a 94-88 victory Monday over the Utah Jazz, 48 minutes serving as a synopsis of the season when a 26-point lead almost slipped away.

The Lakers are one game behind last season's 27-24 pace through 51, reinforcing the notion of an underperforming team.

"I felt that we were underachieving a little bit," Lamar Odom said of his discussions with Jackson. "He feels that like for the second-youngest team in the NBA, we're doing pretty well. I just think we could be doing better all around as a team."

As in?
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Phil
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 15, 2006 6:39 am    Post subject:

NBA focuses on individuals because fans do
Published February 14, 2006

New rule for future NBA All-Star Games: To be voted into the starting lineup, you must actually play for a team whose win total isn't around Lindsay Lohan's age.

Have you looked at the starting lineups for this weekend's all-star game lately?

There's Kobe Bryant, whose Los Angeles Lakers were 25-25 heading into Monday's game. There's Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming, whose Houston Rockets are 21-30. And there's Allen Iverson, whose Philadelphia 76ers are 24-26.

In case you haven't picked up on the common theme here, this is it in a nutshell:

Losing.
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 15, 2006 7:10 am    Post subject:

Atlanta (15-34) at LA Lakers (26-25)
Preview - Box Score - Recap
Game Info: 10:30 pm EST Wed Feb 15, 2006
TV: FxSo, FxW Add to Calendar
Buy Tickets

The Los Angeles Lakers look to sweep the Atlanta Hawks for the first time in six seasons when the teams meet at Staples Center.

Los Angeles has not swept the two-game set against Atlanta since 1999-00, the first season of its three straight championships. The Lakers are only 6-5 against the Hawks since that season, including a 103-97 win at Atlanta on Nov. 8.

Despite NBA scoring leader Kobe Bryant's lowest point total in nearly two months, Los Angeles defeated Utah 94-88 on Monday. Bryant made just six of 20 shots for 23 points, his worst output since he scored 21 against Orlando on Dec. 23.

"I really don't care about the scoring title. I could care less," Bryant said. "I don't care about shooting the ball or anything. I mean, if I need to score 35 or 40 points, or whatever it is, I do it to win the game. If I don't need to, then I don't. We needed this win, and that is what we were able to do."

The Lakers climbed back over .500 with the victory and moved 1 1/2 games ahead of the ninth-place Jazz in the Western Conference standings. Bryant, though, claimed that he is not worried about the standings.

"I don't play for eighth seeds, seventh seeds or sixth seeds. I play for titles. So I don't even think about judging the progression of the season until we get to that championship form again, where we start contending for a title," he said.
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 15, 2006 11:42 am    Post subject:


Tomjanovich Named Director Of Scouting For USA Basketball


POSTED: 10:47 am MST February 15, 2006
Colorado Springs, CO -- (Sports Network) - Jerry Colangelo, managing director of the USA Basketball Men's Senior National Team, announced Wednesday the naming of Rudy Tomjanovich as director of scouting.

Tomjanovich was head coach of the 2000 Olympic squad that brought home a gold medal and is a former head coach with the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers.

"I'm thrilled and honored to be working with USA Basketball again," said Tomjanovich. "I'm very grateful to Jerry Colangelo for this important assignment and I believe that my experience coaching international basketball and my experience with advance scouting throughout my career will help me fulfill this responsibility and help Coach K and his staff bring back the gold."
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 15, 2006 8:19 pm    Post subject:

Like it or not, Kobe Bryant shines
By David DuPree, USA TODAY
No NBA All-Star this season has shined brighter or stood taller than Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Kobe Bryant takes his attention off Lakers coach Phil Jackson during a timeout Dec. 26, 2005, in Washington. Kobe Bryant takes his attention off Lakers coach Phil Jackson during a timeout Dec. 26, 2005, in Washington.
By Mikki K. Harris, USA TODAY

His 81-point game last month created a loud buzz in the basketball world, and elevated him to an almost surreal level. Yet he remains perhaps the league's most quixotic figure, standing mostly alone and often characterized as arrogant, self-centered and even downright selfish.

He is the one player fans seem to love to hate more than any other.

Bryant knows it, accepts it and even thrives on the controversy. He is too focused on trying to establish himself as the greatest player the game has ever seen to be sidetracked.

It could be that same pursuit of singular greatness, however, that alienates him from a large portion of the public.

"I just want to be recognized as a great player," said Bryant, who played his high-school ball in the Philadelphia suburbs before jumping to the NBA in 1996. "That's what we all want. It's about getting the W's (wins) and nothing else. I can't let what people think or say about me bother me."
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