April 6th: Upcoming trip might be preview. Bryant taking it easy.

 
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Phil
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 5:38 am    Post subject: April 6th: Upcoming trip might be preview. Bryant taking it easy.

Upcoming trip might be preview
Jill Painter, Staff writer

EL SEGUNDO - The Lakers could be in store for a sneak preview of the NBA playoffs.

They play a two-game road trip at Denver and Phoenix, and likely would play one of those teams in the first round of the playoffs.

The Lakers are catching the Nuggets at a seemingly good time. The Lakers have won six of their last seven games and Denver has lost four of its last five. The Nuggets squandered a 22-point lead in a loss to the Clippers on Tuesday.

"It's a good test for us," Kobe Bryant said. "We've played a couple of playoff teams in the past and had some good success against them. This will be a good test for us, too, two good teams back-to-back on the road. We'll see what we're made of."

Phil Jackson doesn't believe these games are a sign for what might happen in three weeks.

"It's not quite that time to do that," Jackson said. "If you had a couple of days preparation and, all things considered, a full squad of players, it'd be something different. But we're in a situation where Chris Mihm is not on the roster and Andrew (Bynum) is not traveling with us. We're still a long way away from where we want to be (for the playoffs)."

In what was a quirky bit of scheduling, the Lakers haven't played Denver since Nov. 6. They won in overtime in Denver on Nov. 2 and crushed the Nuggets at home 112-92 four days later. But that was five months ago.


Last edited by Phil on Thu Apr 06, 2006 5:44 am; edited 1 time in total
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Phil
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 5:42 am    Post subject:

Jackson Isn't Seeing Spots Yet
By Ben Bolch, Times Staff Writer
April 6, 2006

Forget all the potential playoff scenarios for a moment. The Lakers say their postseason fate could hinge less on where they finish in the standings than on how they're playing on the court.

"The only issue that we're concerned about is winning and trying to win every game," Coach Phil Jackson said Wednesday. "It's not about six or seven or eight [in the Western Conference standings] or anything else, it's about really getting a rhythm and playing as well as we can."

The Lakers open their final trip of the season tonight in Denver against the Nuggets before traveling to Phoenix for a game against the Suns on Friday. A solid showing against a pair of playoff-bound teams could go a long way toward proving that the Lakers are ready for their first postseason appearance in two years.

"It's a good test for us, two good teams back to back on the road," guard Kobe Bryant said. "We'll see what we're made of a little bit."

Said forward Lamar Odom: "These are playoff teams, and you want to play well against them."
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Phil
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 5:44 am    Post subject:

Bryant taking it easy
By Marc J. Spears
Denver Post Staff Writer

There may not be an NBA player facing more pressure through this summer than the Lakers' Kobe Bryant.

The NBA's leading scorer is trying to keep Los Angeles from missing the playoffs in consecutive years for the first time since 1976. He also will be the focal point of USA Basketball's team at the World Championships this summer.

But considering what he has been through off the court, Bryant said basketball will always be a release.

"I've felt more pressure," said Bryant, who had a sexual-assault case in Eagle dropped against him on Sept. 1, 2004. "This is nothing. This is nothing, man. This is basketball.

"I've been playing basketball since I was 2. It's hard work. You show up every morning. You work hard every day, you give your best effort. There is no pressure if you prepare yourself."

Tonight, Bryant and the Lakers (40-35) visit the Nuggets (41-34) in a game with playoff implications for both teams. The Lakers are seventh in the Western Conference race, ahead of Sacramento (39-37). Denver is closing in on the third seed as the Northwest Division champion.

The difference between being the seventh or eighth seed is the difference between playing the reigning world champion and likely top seed San Antonio, or facing No. 2 seed Phoenix, which is playing without injured all-star Amare Stoudemire.

"The rest of the way we just have to focus on the details of the game," Bryant said. "We'll prove it in our execution. When you come down the stretch during the regular season, what you do is you have to improve. You don't want to be stuck in the mud."
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 5:46 am    Post subject:

Bryant still works hard to win over Denver fans
Troubles long gone, Lakers guard hopes boos at Pepsi Center dissipate

Kobe Bryant says he sees a lot of people wearing his No. 8 jersey in Denver.


By Chris Tomasson, Rocky Mountain News
April 6, 2006
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. - Since summer 2003, when he was charged with sexual assault in Colorado, Kobe Bryant has played five games at the Pepsi Center.

And he has heard a chorus of boos each time.

It hasn't mattered to many that three of those games were played after the charge against the Los Angeles Lakers guard was dropped in summer 2004. With that in mind, Lakers coach Phil Jackson has a message for Denver Nuggets fans.

"He's moved on," Jackson, whose team plays the Nuggets tonight at the Pepsi Center (8:30, TNT), said Wednesday after a Lakers practice. "It's time for the fans to move on."

Jackson coached the Lakers in 2003-04 before taking off last season. He was surprised by the boos directed at Bryant when the Lakers visited the Pepsi Center on Nov. 2, his team's opener and the Nuggets' home opener.

"I wonder if they ever are," Jackson said of Nuggets fans getting over booing Bryant. "I thought they might let that go this year, but it didn't seem apparent at all. Right away, he got booed. He just may be one of those guys that has to carry that for a year or two until another group comes along that gives him a break."

Asked about the boos, Bryant said, "I just try not to think about it."
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 5:48 am    Post subject:

Lakers look ahead to playoffs
Jackson has the team focusing on pressure defense in case they need it in the postseason.

By AL BALDERAS
The Orange County Register

EL SEGUNDO – The tone around the Lakers practice facility has shifted. Rather than discussing the possibility of making the playoffs, the Lakers are starting to focus on what they need to do once they get there.

The Lakers haven't played since Sunday's victory over the Houston Rockets, so the break in their schedule gave them a chance to work on a part of their game that will be called upon in the postseason.

"We worked on pressure defense," Coach Phil Jackson said. "Edging them toward being able to play a little pressure defense simply because we're going to need it at some point during the playoffs. It also activates our players a lot during the practice sessions."

The Lakers have seven games remaining in the regular season. Their next two games - at Denver and Phoenix - are against possible playoff opponents. While Lakers players and coaches see both games as possible playoff previews, they try to remain focused on their continued improvement.

"Right now we just have to take it game by game," Lamar Odom said. "Our destiny is in our own hands. We have to keep winning."
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 5:49 am    Post subject:

Coming Together at Right Time

Broderick Turner

10:00 PM PDT on Wednesday, April 5, 2006

EL SEGUNDO - Out of necessity, Lakers coach Phil Jackson said, his team has risen to the challenge and performed at a higher level the past two weeks.

The playoffs are at stake, and the Lakers have positioned themselves to be in the postseason after missing out last year.

They hold the seventh spot in the Western Conference and would like to move up, if possible.

The Lakers have seven regular-season games left, starting with a game tonight at Denver.

"You would like to think that teams are coming together at this time of the year," Jackson said. "They're either coming apart or together. If you're going into the playoffs, you hope you are starting to build something, and we feel good about what we're doing."

The Lakers have won six of seven.

They are getting solid production. They are playing better defense and have avoided the third-quarter pitfalls that have plagued them all season.

"That's the case with a lot of Phil's teams," Kobe Bryant said. "You see the results later in the season as opposed to in the beginning."
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