February 22nd: Lakers over Blazers 99-82. Trade deadline approaches.

 
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Phil
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 22, 2006 6:28 am    Post subject: February 22nd: Lakers over Blazers 99-82. Trade deadline approaches.

Trail Blazers Are Just What Lakers Ordered
# Odom has a solid game, Bryant has a big fourth quarter and Portland goes quietly, 99-82.

By Mike Bresnahan, Times Staff Writer

What ails the Lakers? Nothing the Portland Trail Blazers couldn't fix.

The lowest-scoring team in the league continued to come to the aid of defenses in need of a boost, the Lakers eagerly scooping up opportunity with a 99-82 victory Tuesday at Staples Center.

The Lakers, broken and bent before the All-Star break, were lively and fresh against the Trail Blazers and moved two games ahead of Utah for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Lamar Odom had one of his best all-around games of the season — 20 points, a season-high 17 rebounds, six assists and only one turnover — and Kobe Bryant added 27 points on 11-for-19 shooting.

Solid defense? A determined Odom? A 15-point effort from Bryant in the fourth quarter?

"That's a pretty good formula," Bryant said. "That's a pretty good equation, actually, when other guys are contributing, Lamar's doing his thing for the first three quarters, then the fourth quarter I step in and do what I do."

Odom, who is only about 80% recovered from a rib injury sustained three weeks ago, looked fluid and fearless after being matched up against former Clipper teammate Darius Miles.

"When he's playing like that, he's being aggressive, taking the open jumper and doing a good job moving the ball, we're a very, very dangerous team," Bryant said. "I'll have more room to operate when guys are knocking down shots, particularly when I penetrate and they collapse and I pitch out. You knock a couple of those shots down, then all of a sudden, that lane gets a little bit bigger."


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Phil
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 22, 2006 6:30 am    Post subject:


Lakers find right mix

Lakers start second half of season with victory
By Ross Siler, Staff Writer


The first game back from the All-Star break is always an adventure, even with the Western Conference's worst team in town, but the Lakers just might have found a formula that can carry them these last 30 games of the season.

They got an aggressive night out of Lamar Odom, held the NBA's 30th-ranked offensive team below its scoring average and let Kobe Bryant finish things off in the fourth quarter.

It added up to a 99-82 victory Tuesday night at Staples Center and a step in the right direction for the Lakers, who sit eighth in the Western Conference standings, two games ahead of Utah, two games behind the Hornets.

Odom finished with 20 points and a season-high 17 rebounds while Bryant scored 15 of his game-high 27 in the fourth quarter. The Lakers also gave up a whopping 31 fewer points to the Blazers than in their 113-103 loss to Portland last month.

Then again, the Lakers' defense also was aided by an unbelievably bad night at the foul line for the Blazers, who made just 12 of 28 (42.9 percent) from the line. Portland also was playing without injured centers Joel Przybilla and Theo Ratliff.
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Phil
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 22, 2006 6:32 am    Post subject:

Jackson doesn't dream up victory
The Lakers' play in the blowout is a look at how he envisioned it.

By KEVIN DING
The Orange County Register

LOS ANGELES – Behind those dark-framed glasses, Phil Jackson has had a vision as far back as June, one that attracted him enough that he returned with full faith the Lakers would win again.

Jackson got a rare glimpse of that vision on the other side of those glasses Tuesday night in a 99-82 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Lakers dominated at Staples Center, where they will play nearly two-thirds of their post- All-Star-break games, and won in their first chance after their five-day break.

They won because Jackson got almost everything he foresaw: Lamar Odom focused and assertive, Kobe Bryant playing like a coach on the floor, and an active, athletic defense energized and stabilized by veteran Devean George off the bench, where Jackson has insisted on keeping him.

The Lakers, projected by Jackson as one of the league's best rebounding teams, also beat Portland on the boards, 50-37.
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Phil
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 22, 2006 6:34 am    Post subject:

Lakers make clean break

Lakers 99, Trail Blazers 82: Time off helps them leave their woes behind.

12:25 AM PST on Wednesday, February 22, 2006

By BRODERICK TURNER / The Press-Enterprise

LOS ANGELES - The All-Star break was behind the Lakers, as were so many of their failures in the first 52 games, when they let games slip through their fingers, close losses that left Los Angeles clinging to the last playoff spot.
AP photo
Lamar Odom dunks for two of his 20 points; he also had 17 rebounds. After a bad loss dropped them to 26-26 at the All-Star break, the Lakers returned sharp, holding Portland to 39 percent shooting.

The plan was to play the last 30 games as if their season depended on it, and the Lakers put that plan into effect in Tuesday's 99-82 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers before 18,241 at Staples Center.

Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 27 points, making 11 of 19 shots. He scored 15 points in the fourth quarter, including 10 straight, to help the Lakers stretch their lead from 11 to 15.

Lamar Odom had a big game, scoring 20 points, grabbing a season-high 17 rebounds and handing out six assists. Smush Parker had a career-high nine assists to go with 13 points and seven rebounds.

The Lakers shot 50 percent from the field and had five players score in double figures.

Odom was aggressive, taking 21 shots, the second-most he has taken all season. He missed a few easy layups as usual but attacked the basket, and that was a good sign for the Lakers, as was the return of center Chris Mihm, who had missed six games with a shoulder injury.

"Time off is always important for your mind and your body," said Odom, who is still bothered by his sprained rib cartilage. "It keeps your spirit up."
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 22, 2006 6:35 am    Post subject:

As Deadline Looms, Deals Are 'Unlikely'
By Mike Bresnahan, Times Staff Writer

The trade deadline is Thursday at noon, and the Lakers still are what they are, as of late Tuesday night.

"Every time this year, there's a lot of activity," Laker General Manager Mitch Kupchak said. "It's tough to make a deal in this league. We'll continue to be aggressive up until the deadline."


But, Kupchak said, a deal is "unlikely."

Kobe Bryant is untouchable, but Lamar Odom's recent slump led to talks with some teams, many contacting the Lakers in hopes of getting the struggling forward for a bargain price.

One of the more compelling deals would have sent Odom to the New York Knicks for sixth-year guard Jamal Crawford and rookies Nate Robinson and Channing Frye, although the Knicks were unwilling to part with Frye to make the trade work, according to numerous sources.

Odom was also linked to a trade with the Orlando Magic for guard Steve Francis in a published report that was emphatically denied by the Lakers.

Odom, who is averaging 13.9 points, 9.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists, has three years and $39.7 million left on his contract after this season. His monthly scoring average has slipped every month since the season began in November.

Other Lakers are in the last years of their contracts, making them preferred commodities in the trade market.

Devean George, who is averaging seven points and four rebounds, is in the last year of a contract that pays him $5 million this season, and Slava Medvedenko, though out because of a back injury, is getting $3 million in the last year of his contract, money that a team would wipe off its books as soon as the season ends.
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 22, 2006 6:36 am    Post subject:


Mihm comes off the bench in return

By Ross Siler, Staff Writer

How good was center Chris Mihm feeling about returning to action Tuesday night after missing the Lakers' previous six games?

So good that Mihm could take a couple of jokes in the locker room about the skin-tight purple undershirt he had to wear to accommodate the protective pad on his sprained right shoulder.

But Lakers coach Phil Jackson wasn't feeling quite as enthusiastic about Mihm returning to the starting lineup and playing major minutes. Jackson elected to bring Mihm off the bench in his first game back from the shoulder injury.

"I'm not satisfied that Chris is back, ready to play," Jackson said. "He's ready to practice, but he's still reaching for the ball, short-arming it. The extension is not there. I'm concerned. I was not pleased (Monday) at practice."

Mihm checked in at the end of the first quarter and played 13:45 in all. He finished with two points, three rebounds and two turnovers and was on the court in the fourth quarter while Kwame Brown sat.

Keeping his head: Jackson's biggest complaint with Lamar Odom has nothing to do with the 6-foot-10 forward's scoring, which, it must be noted, has declined every month this
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 22, 2006 6:38 am    Post subject:

Key for Odom: Keeping his cool

12:22 AM PST on Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Broderick Turner

LOS ANGELES - More than scoring points, running the offense and getting rebounds or assists, Coach Phil Jackson wants to see Lamar Odom keeping his cool in games and not letting a referee's call affect his play.

Though Odom said he would like to score more, and might need to for the Lakers to be successful, Jackson said pressing Odom to score is not the key. He said Odom has figured out how to play the type of game the Lakers play.

"He's got to get focused about staying in the game, staying on the floor, contributing to the team," Jackson said.

Odom has five technical fouls, all coming after he became frustrated with the officials.

Mihm Returns

After missing the previous six games with a sprained right shoulder, Chris Mihm returned Tuesday night against the Trail Blazers, despite Jackson's belief that he wasn't ready to play.

Jackson said Mihm was ready to practice Monday but was not at his best.

"He was reaching for the ball, short-arming it, and his extension was not there," Jackson said. "I'm concerned. I was not pleased yesterday in practice ...

"I think he improved and he's said he has improved. But the improvements are not good enough yet to say that he's ready to play at that complete 100-percent recovery" level.

Mihm had a little over two weeks to rest and wore a pad to protect his shoulder, which was injured in the fourth quarter against Charlotte on Feb. 3. He had two points and three rebounds in 13 minutes off the bench.

"I hated not being out there on the floor," Mihm said. "I've been happy about (playing again) all day."
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 22, 2006 6:40 am    Post subject:

Lakers' Brown Puts Up More Words Than Points
I expected Kwame Brown to fumble for answers, maybe turn over something or miss the point of the whole conversation, but I was pleasantly surprised to learn he's a professional and really a very well-spoken stiff.

My intention before the Lakers' game with Portland had been to talk to Lamar Odom and urge him to score more, but as soon as he saw the media enter the locker room, he decided to leave — moving to his left, of course, as he walked out.

So that left me with Brown, and when I asked him if he was bothered by all the criticism directed his way, he said, "I don't read the newspapers, so I don't see the criticism.

"I think I'm doing good. How do you think I'm doing?"

I didn't hesitate, of course. "Not very good," I said. "Not very good at all."

"What do you want?" Brown said.

"How about more consistency?" and as we continued, I found myself having a very nice conversation with the big stiff despite our obvious disagreement over whether he's any good. Who knew Kwame Brown would handle himself better than Brad Faxon?

I have two children older than Brown, who is 23, and I know how difficult it would be for a 23-year-old to stand up to the pressure of constantly being in the spotlight, and I thought about giving him a break. But then changed my mind.

"I think my defense has been consistent," he said, and I told him I wouldn't know, because I'm all about offense, and he said, "We have all the scoring we need from Kobe."
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 22, 2006 6:38 pm    Post subject:

They probably won't happen, but we can hope

DIME Magazine / Dime Magazine
Posted: 1 hour ago

With the NBA trade deadline just hours away, we thought we'd put together our own little Dime Trade Wish List. Almost of the guys listed below have been mentioned in multiple trade scenarios and we're picking out the deal we'd most like to see for each player.

The Steve Francis/Penny Hardaway-Trevor Ariza deal sent ripples throughout the League Wednesday afternoon. Penny's massive expiring contract was one of the most valuable bargaining chips being floated around in every rumor this year and now that it's gone, everyone has to regroup to make something happen before the deadline.

We're not salary cap experts and we're not saying that these are the deals that will definitely happen, but these are some of the trades we'd like to see go down before 3 p.m. ET Thursday.

Kevin Garnett to the Lakers

Other teams interested: Knicks, Bulls

KG has had that forlorn, "Please God, get me out of here" look on his face for about two years now. All of the rumors are that if and when he gets dealt, he wants to go to New York to ball in the NBA's largest market. Can't really blame him, can you? Is there any doubt that if he was in a larger market since he came into the L we'd be talking about KG in the same breath as some of the all-time greats? Garnett would have been everywhere for the last decade. Unfortunately, after the Knicks made the move for Francis, KG to NYC is unlikely.

We have been hearing, though, that the Lakers are making a late push for Garnett. And by all accounts they'd be crazy to refuse giving up any of their young talent if they have a legit shot at KG (and if we were Kevin McHale, we'd settle for nothing less than Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom). Can you image Garnett and Kobe on the same team? They can ...
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