May 14th: "Next Game Plan May Not Include Kobe" "Phil Jackson: Kobe Bryant Isn’t to Blame " "(Jerry)West: ‘Have a big, big dream’

 
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Phil
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PostPosted: Sun May 14, 2006 6:27 am    Post subject: May 14th: "Next Game Plan May Not Include Kobe" "Phil Jackson: Kobe Bryant Isn’t to Blame " "(Jerry)West: ‘Have a big, big dream’

Next Game Plan May Not Include Kobe
May 14, 2006

Kobe or not Kobe?

That's the question, not whether Kobe Bryant "tanked" a game the Lakers trailed by 15 points at halftime … and by 21 when he took his first shot in the third quarter after the Suns scored on six of their first seven possessions.


Of course, Bryant has been known to stop shooting because he wants to make a point. OK, I threw them the ball, you see what they did with it.

On the other hand, it's hardly tanking if he scores 23 points in the first half and pulls back at the direction of his coach, as Phil Jackson insisted again last week.

"Kobe went out with the game plan in mind," Jackson wrote in an e-mail. "Get the ball inside! Kwame [Brown] couldn't get anything to fall for him…. L.O. [Lamar Odom] the same. [Steve] Nash had banged his knee the first half and we went at him but Smush [Parker] couldn't score.

"Now we're 20 down and I put in [Brian] Cook to get the screen-roll game going and they doubled Kobe and left Cook open …

"He [Bryant] finally tried to bust through the defense and got called for a charge and committed a turnover. So there you go. We're down by 25 points and things have slipped away."


Last edited by Phil on Sun May 14, 2006 7:52 pm; edited 2 times in total
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Phil
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PostPosted: Sun May 14, 2006 6:29 am    Post subject:

On the NBA | Can't be teammates, can't win as rivals
By David Aldridge
Inquirer Columnist

Almost two years after The Trade, they are both treading playoff water.

Together, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal were as close to unstoppable as any of the great duos: Astaire and Rogers. Hepburn and Tracy. Wallace and Gromit. Easy-E and Cube. Or Dre and Cube, depending on your flavor.

Bryant and O'Neal made the Lakers the first NBA dynasty of the 21st century, winning three straight championships on the strength of Bryant's improvisation and O'Neal's force. No team had an answer for both of them, and it made Los Angeles almost unbeatable.

But we know what happened next: The two couldn't get along, and no matter who demanded what, the reality was that one of them had to go. It turned out to be O'Neal, sent to Miami in the summer of 2004. And ever since, each man has gotten only a sniff of the success that they had together.

O'Neal's Heat were a game away from the Finals last year but couldn't hold off the Pistons in Game 7 on Miami's home floor. This year they struggled with Chicago in the first round, and are locked in a tough second-round series with New Jersey, while Detroit flosses its teeth with the Cavaliers.
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Phil
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PostPosted: Sun May 14, 2006 6:51 pm    Post subject:

Phil Jackson: Kobe Bryant Isn’t to Blame
By C.Y. Ellis 05.14.2006

Phil Jackson: Kobe Bryant Isn’t to Blame

After a number of theories had been put forward by the media and fans alike, Phil Jackson today decided to speak out against those who saw Kobe’s passivity in the second half of the Lakers’ game seven against the Suns as being the reason their season ended. On the face of it, it’s difficult to argue against them, with the game tape clearly showing Kobe waving off a number of scoring opportunities, at times moving the ball without so much as looking towards the hoop. However, Jax puts the all-important “game plan” at the centre of the fiasco, playing the angle that Kobe was merely following instructions.

"Kobe went out with the game plan in mind," Jackson wrote in an e-mail. "Get the ball inside! Kwame [Brown] couldn’t get anything to fall for him.... L.O. [Lamar Odom] the same. [Steve] Nash had banged his knee the first half and we went at him but Smush [Parker] couldn’t score.

"Now we’re 20 down and I put in [Brian]Cook to get the screen-roll game going and they doubled Kobe and left Cook open ...

"He [Bryant] finally tried to bust through the defense and got called for a charge and committed a turnover. So there you go. We’re down by 25 points and things have slipped away."
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PostPosted: Sun May 14, 2006 7:51 pm    Post subject:

West: ‘Have a big, big dream’

All-time WVU great delivers commencement speech at his alma mater
By JUSTIN MCLAUGHLIN
Times West Virginian

MORGANTOWN — About 3,300 West Virginia University students were told to dream big and have goals by Jerry West, one of the school’s most famous graduates, before receiving their degrees on Sunday.

“Protect your character. Maintain your determination. Build your resolve. And always, always have a goal,” West told the graduates. “And have a big, big dream.”

West, who received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from WVU Sunday, is a 1960 graduate of the school. He led the basketball team to three straight NCAA tournament berths and was the Lakers’ first-pick in the 1960 NBA draft. He also co-captained the U.S. Olympic basketball team in Rome that year, leading the team to a gold-medal win. During his time with the Lakers, he scored 25,192 points, the sixth-highest total in the NBA.

“Your journey will take you places you cannot imagine today. I would like to spend much of our time today talking about that journey. I will share some things from my journey, some observations and some advice that I hope you find valuable,” West told the graduates.
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