April 30th: "Brown, Parker come a long way." "Game Previews, Lakers & Suns, round 4."

 
This forum is locked: you cannot post, reply to, or edit topics.    LakersGround.net Forum Index -> Lakers In the News This topic is locked: you cannot edit posts or make replies.
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Phil
Retired


Joined: 03 Aug 2001
Posts: 10007

PostPosted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 8:23 am    Post subject: April 30th: "Brown, Parker come a long way." "Game Previews, Lakers & Suns, round 4."

Brown, Parker come a long way
Leaving their rebellion behind, the two young starters are now believers in Phil Jackson's strategy.

By KEVIN DING
The Orange County Register

EL SEGUNDO – Remember that meek Kwame Brown racing off the Staples Center floor trying to duck a steady rain of boos? Or the indignant Smush Parker tucking his lucky headband away in his nightly display of disappointment?

No two players heard as much criticism from Lakers coach Phil Jackson as they came off the court in games than Brown and Parker - both in their first triangle-offense seasons, both having everything to prove in the NBA, both 24 and believing Jackson just didn't understand.

Now it's all smiles. Brown, Parker and Luke Walton have been Jackson's three surprisingly productive starters to go with Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom en route to a 2-1 series lead over the Phoenix Suns.

Despite instructions to his team to be serious and view Game 4 today as a "desperation game" because it will be one for the Suns, Jackson couldn't resist one grin of his own Saturday as he thought back to Game 3 on Friday.

"I didn't think I'd ever hear the chants of 'Kwa-me' come down," Jackson said.

Said Brown: "I thought they were saying, 'Ko-be,' but they were saying, 'Kwa-me' - and I was like, 'Wow!'"

Asked for his feelings about it, Brown laughed and said: "It's a step up from being booed."
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote
Phil
Retired


Joined: 03 Aug 2001
Posts: 10007

PostPosted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 8:25 am    Post subject:

Phoenix at LA Lakers
Preview - Box Score - Recap
Game Info: 3:30 pm EDT Sun Apr 30, 2006
TV: ABC Add to Calendar
Buy Tickets

PLAYOFF SERIES: Western Conference first round; Lakers lead 2-1.

Kobe Bryant isn't scoring like he did in the regular season, but the Los Angeles Lakers keep winning.

Using a game plan that has worked thus far, the Lakers look to go up 3-1 when they host the Phoenix Suns in their best-of-seven first round series.

Bryant averaged an NBA-high 35.4 points in the regular season, but hasn't come close to that in three games this series. Instead, the Lakers have been moving the ball around.

Bryant is averaging 22.7 points in the playoffs and had only 17 points in Los Angeles' 99-92 win in Game 3 on Friday night, but the other four starters all scored in double figures -- the second game this series the Lakers have done that.

Los Angeles had only three games in the regular season in which all starters scored in double figures.

"From the start of the series, we have just been playing extremely well and are moving the ball around really well," Bryant said. "We have just evolved into this from the start of the season. It has been a process.

"We are just playing so well together."
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote
Phil
Retired


Joined: 03 Aug 2001
Posts: 10007

PostPosted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 8:28 am    Post subject:

A growing sense of urgency, chagrin

By JANIS CARR
The Orange County Register

SANTA MONICA – Though it has cost Phoenix two games, Suns guard Steve Nash wonders what took the Lakers so long to play team ball.

Kobe Bryant uncharacteristically shared the ball Friday, scoring 17 points, and the Lakers beat the Suns, 99-92, to take a 2-1 lead in the series.

Five Lakers scored in double figures, led by Smush Parker's 18 points.

"You wonder where they could have been if they played like this all year. They finally are giving some confidence to those guys," Nash said Saturday after a short practice at Crossroads High. "It's a team sport, and now they are playing other players and giving them an opportunity to get some confidence."
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote
Phil
Retired


Joined: 03 Aug 2001
Posts: 10007

PostPosted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 8:35 am    Post subject:

Stressed Suns Will Try Jackson's Philosophy

Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

Coach Phil Jackson and the Los Angeles Lakers have a surprising, 2-1, series edge on the Phoenix Suns.

"We need to get to halfcourt, take a deep breath and relax," he said. "Get your muscles untense after fighting, fighting and everything. And just play."

The breathing instructions were from Phoenix Coach Mike D'Antoni, whose team is suddenly, surprisingly, down, 2-1, to the Los Angeles Lakers in their first-round series.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote
Phil
Retired


Joined: 03 Aug 2001
Posts: 10007

PostPosted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 8:37 am    Post subject:

Nash, Suns battle Kobe, Lakers in Game 4 at Staples Center

The Phoenix Suns try to even their first-round series with the Los Angeles Lakers at two games apiece this afternoon, as the teams battle at the Staples Center.
,This is a best-of-seven series. Game 5 is scheduled to be played on Tuesday at US Airways Center.

After the teams split Games 1 and 2 at Phoenix , the Lakers grabbed a 2-1 lead in the series on Friday. All-Star Kobe Bryant was limited to just 17 points, but the seventh-seeded Lakers used solid defense to beat the second-seeded Suns, 99-92, in Game 3 at the Staples Center.

Smush Parker totaled 18 points for the Lakers, who outrebounded Phoenix, 53-34. Luke Walton had 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Lamar Odom scored 15 and pulled down 17 boards and Kwame Brown ended with 13 points and 11 boards.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote
Phil
Retired


Joined: 03 Aug 2001
Posts: 10007

PostPosted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 8:38 am    Post subject:

Suns-Lakers Preview

GAME: Phoenix Suns at Los Angeles Lakers.

PLAYOFF SERIES: Western Conference first round; Lakers lead 2-1.

TIME: Sunday, 3:30 p.m. EDT.

Kobe Bryant isn't scoring like he did in the regular season, but the Los Angeles Lakers keep winning.

Using a game plan that has worked thus far, the Lakers look to go up 3-1 when they host the Phoenix Suns in their best-of-seven first round series.

Bryant averaged an NBA-high 35.4 points in the regular season, but hasn't come close to that in three games this series. Instead, the Lakers have been moving the ball around.

Bryant is averaging 22.7 points in the playoffs and had only 17 points in Los Angeles' 99-92 win in Game 3 on Friday night, but the other four starters all scored in double figures - the second game this series the Lakers have done that.

Los Angeles had only three games in the regular season in which all starters scored in double figures.

``From the start of the series, we have just been playing extremely well and are moving the ball around really well,'' Bryant said. ``We have just evolved into this from the start of the season. It has been a process.

``We are just playing so well together.''
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote
Phil
Retired


Joined: 03 Aug 2001
Posts: 10007

PostPosted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 8:40 am    Post subject:

Unselfish Kobe has L.A. on a roll
By Mike Tulumello, Tribune
April 30, 2006
LOS ANGELES - Kobe Bryant receives a pass and immediately gives the ball up.
The Lakers bring the ball down the floor, time after time, and frequently don’t even look for the NBA’s scoring champion, who could well have been known over the years as the Will Rogers of shooting.
Related Links
Sports
(He never saw a shot opportunity he didn’t like.)

What in the name of James Naismith is going on?

Well, coach Phil Jackson, the Zen master himself, has things rolling in Laker-land.

He is working with the same player, who once — according to Jackson’s autobiography — moved him to seek out experts in narcissism to try to figure out how to rein him in.

Now, Jackson and Bryant are working arm and arm, discussing strategy beforehand and then carrying it out.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote
Phil
Retired


Joined: 03 Aug 2001
Posts: 10007

PostPosted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 8:42 am    Post subject:

Diaw’s a nice player; he has a lot to learn
By Scott Bordow, Tribune
April 30, 2006
LOS ANGELES - It was a welcome-to-the-playoffs moment for Boris Diaw.
He was flat on his back on the Staples Center floor Friday night, 6-foot-11, 270-pound Los Angeles Lakers center Kwame Brown standing over him as if he had just delivered a knockout punch.
Related Links
Sports
The message was clear:
This isn’t Atlanta in January. The postseason has some kick to it.

No matter what happens to the Suns the rest of the Western Conference playoff series, this will be a great learning experience for the 24-year-old Diaw. He and Amaré Stoudemire are the future of the franchise, and the sooner he understands playoff basketball the better.

“It is different, what to expect, and he’ll come to embrace and enjoy that,” Steve Nash said.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote
Phil
Retired


Joined: 03 Aug 2001
Posts: 10007

PostPosted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 8:46 am    Post subject:

Lakers proving to be more than just Kobe

Associated Press
Sat, Apr 29, 2006

LOS ANGELES -- When Kobe Bryant was scoring 81 points against the Toronto Raptors three months ago, his teammates mostly stood around and watched.

They`re not just watching now.

All five starters scored in double figures for the second time in three playoff games Friday night, and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Pacific Division champion Phoenix Suns 99-92 for a 2-1 lead in their first-round, best-of-seven playoff series.

The Lakers are 2-point favorites for Game 4, to be played today at Staples Center.

``When you`ve got five guys on the court who are a threat, it`s hard to defend,`` said Lamar Odom, who had 15 points and 17 rebounds. ``Look at Detroit. It probably confuses the team we`re playing against, when you win the game and Kobe scores 15 or 16 points.``
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote
Phil
Retired


Joined: 03 Aug 2001
Posts: 10007

PostPosted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 8:48 am    Post subject:

Kobe Praised by Teammates

Broderick Turner

10:00 PM PDT on Saturday, April 29, 2006

By BRODERICK TURNER
The Press-Enterprise

EL SEGUNDO - There was Kobe Bryant running the show in the fourth quarter Friday night, barking out orders, pointing to spots where his teammates should be.

However, Bryant wasn't trying to be a one-man show and score all the points in the decisive fourth quarter of Game 3. He was the quarterback, a role he has taken on more and more as the Lakers have taken a 2-1 series lead.

"Kobe is a great playmaker, a great scorer," Lamar Odom said. "He's the best player in the game. So he can take over the game in any aspect, really, whether it's scoring the ball or dishing the ball."

After averaging 42.5 points and 3.8 assists in four regular-season games against the Suns, Bryant has changed his approach. He averaged 22.7 points and 5.7 assists in the first three playoff games.

"Kobe has been a really good leader out there," Coach Phil Jackson said Saturday. "He knows that this is a critical situation. The game tomorrow is really a critical thing."

Bryant had a team-high seven assists Friday night. He took just 18 shots, one fewer than Luke Walton.

"You see one guy who scores and he was on the attack all the time (turning in) to now a guy who's helping everybody, being a floor general and just always coming to your aid," Kwame Brown said of Bryant.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote
Phil
Retired


Joined: 03 Aug 2001
Posts: 10007

PostPosted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 8:50 am    Post subject:

Suns seeking return to form of normally potent offense
By Jerry Brown, Tribune
April 30, 2006
LOS ANGELES - Quite appropriately, the Suns held their practice at a Santa Monica elementary school gym on Saturday. Because it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why they trail the Lakers 2-1 in their Western Conference quarterfinal series and are suddenly faced with a must-win situation today in Game 4 at Staples Center.
Related Links
Sports
Figuring out the culprit is, well, elementary.

Phoenix’s vaunted offense, which led the NBA in a boat race all season, has suddenly become “The Poseidon Adventure.” And as good as the Lakers are playing, as cohesive as they have become and as focused as they appear; they can only take partial credit for the Suns’ capsizing.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote
Phil
Retired


Joined: 03 Aug 2001
Posts: 10007

PostPosted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 8:53 am    Post subject:

Setting the pace remains the key

By David Lassen, dlassen -at- VenturaCountyStar.com
April 30, 2006

pictureEL SEGUNDO — Controlling the tempo is still critical to the Los Angeles Lakers. And they still know it — but knowing it and sticking with it are sometimes two different things.

The Lakers' efforts to slow down the Phoenix Suns — the league's highest-scoring team in the regular season — have clearly paid off. Not only do the Lakers take 2-1 series lead into today's game at Staples Center (12:30 p.m., ABC), but the Suns are just eighth in playoff scoring at 97.3 points per game, 11 points off their regular-season average.


"We don't want to take any quick shots," said guard Smush Parker, recounting the basic slowdown philosophy. "Work the shot clock down to the five, six-second mark. And we've been executing that to perfection."

Umm ... not quite.

Clearly there were stretches in Friday's game when the Lakers caught a little too revved up, putting up shots with 11, 12 or 13 seconds left on the clock.

"We just caught up in the same pace they did, or moving a little bit too quick," said coach Phil Jackson. "Second half, they paced their game, (and) we tried to pace ours."
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote
Phil
Retired


Joined: 03 Aug 2001
Posts: 10007

PostPosted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 8:55 am    Post subject:

Group dynamic works wonders for Lakers

By David Lassen, dlassen -at- VenturaCountyStar.com
April 30, 2006

pictureEL SEGUNDO — And now, an exciting new concept in Lakers basketball: actual team play!

OK, it's really not new. There certainly have been Lakers teams in the past that stressed balance and group play and sharing of the basketball.

It was present, to a degree, as recently as two years ago, for the great Hall of Fame experiment. It was defined by the last of the Showtime champions, the 1987 and 1988 teams. Each had seven players average double figures.

But it's certainly new for this team. Even with their late-season surge, these Lakers finished the regular season with Bryant averaging 35 points and everyone else a lap or two behind.

In the playoffs, though, it's different, and not just slightly. All five starters are averaging 13 or more points.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote
Phil
Retired


Joined: 03 Aug 2001
Posts: 10007

PostPosted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 8:59 am    Post subject:

Lakers Keep Backs to the Wall
Despite a 2-1 advantage, Jackson tries to instill a sense of desperation for today's game.
By Mike Bresnahan, Times Staff Writer
April 30, 2006

They must win Game 4 if they want to survive, or so their coach tells them, imploring them to play like the desperate team they are.

The Phoenix Suns? Not quite. They're irritated by the Lakers' physical play and lamenting the fact they don't have more size, but nothing more dramatic than that.

It's on the Laker side, surprisingly, that desperation is being thrown around as the buzzword, the importance of today's playoff game hammered into psyches not by movie clips but by Phil Jackson's words.

"Coach said it's a must-win game for us," Kwame Brown said. "It's a desperation game for us. I was thinking like it's got to be a desperation game for them, but he said if they win, they get back home-court advantage."
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote
Phil
Retired


Joined: 03 Aug 2001
Posts: 10007

PostPosted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 9:04 am    Post subject:

Buzz at Staples Becoming a Roar

By Mike Bresnahan, Times Staff Writer
April 30, 2006

Phil Jackson has had fun analyzing Staples Center crowds in the past, noting their politeness and wondering aloud why they were always so late to arrive to their seats, and to return to them for the start of the third quarter.

But the Laker coach couldn't believe what he heard Friday night against Phoenix, a keyed-up buzz that was often blistering, even punctuated with chants of another player's name besides Kobe Bryant.

"We've had some terrific support from our fans at Staples, but it's not known for their raucous behavior or their verbal support," Jackson said. "I didn't think I'd ever hear the chants of 'Kwame' coming down."
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote
Phil
Retired


Joined: 03 Aug 2001
Posts: 10007

PostPosted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 9:06 am    Post subject:

'D' could use 'beasts' Thomas, Stoudemire

Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 30, 2006 12:00 AM

LOS ANGELES - The Suns' interior defense became as vulnerable as a piñata when Kurt Thomas went out with a foot fracture two months ago.

When the Lakers score heavily in the paint, as they did Friday, it is to be expected with Phoenix's soft underbelly exposed.

But Lakers center Kwame Brown would not be knocking anyone down if Thomas were behind him. Phoenix would not be tip-toeing through the playoffs if a healthy Amaré Stoudemire were running with them.
advertisement


"We're too young to have a swagger," coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We're not that type of guys. We're not alley fighters. I think we can become that. Our two guys that are beasts are not there."
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote
Display posts from previous:   
This forum is locked: you cannot post, reply to, or edit topics.    LakersGround.net Forum Index -> Lakers In the News All times are GMT - 8 Hours
Page 1 of 1
Jump to:  

 
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum






Graphics by uberzev
© 1995-2018 LakersGround.net. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy. Terms of Use.
LakersGround is an unofficial news source serving the fan community since 1995.
We are in no way associated with the Los Angeles Lakers or the National Basketball Association.


Powered by phpBB