April 1st: Lakers win over Seattle. George's Stay Might Be Near an End.

 
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: Sat Apr 01, 2006 7:03 am    Post subject: April 1st: Lakers win over Seattle. George's Stay Might Be Near an End.

George's Stay Might Be Near an End
By Mike Bresnahan, Times Staff Writer
April 1, 2006

SEATTLE — Devean George, a Laker for seven seasons and three championship runs, might be in his last month with the franchise.

An unrestricted free agent after the season, he can test the market for the second time since the Lakers drafted him 23rd overall in 1999.

He signed a four-year, $20.9-million contract to stay with the team before the 2002-03 season, when the Lakers were intrigued by his bursts of brilliance, but his future is a little less certain this time around.

"I'm trying not to think about that," George said. "That's just part of the business. But this could be the last month. There's been some great times. Ups, downs, a lot of fun times. Championships, eyes burning from champagne, cigar smoke."

George, 28, has averaged six points and 3.3 rebounds in his career. He is averaging 6.6 points and four rebounds this season.

"We're going to wait to see how the year ends up," Laker General Manager Mitch Kupchak said. "We'll have discussions with his representative. He's been an integral part of this team for several seasons now. He knows what we do. He's going to have to make a choice as well. It's tough to predict what's going to happen."

George said he would like to return, but also left open the alternative.

"Right now, this is the only thing I know," George said of the Lakers. "I've never been on another team. Then again, I don't know what's available. I'm just going to finish the season, talk to my agent and see what the deal is."
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote
Phil
Retired


Joined: 03 Aug 2001
Posts: 10007

PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 7:05 am    Post subject:

Hill-Parker feud a thing of the past

FRANK HUGHES; The News Tribune
Published: April 1st, 2006 01:00 AM
Seattle SuperSonics coach Bob Hill said he would like to put aside all the questions and rumors about his relationship with Los Angeles Lakers guard Smush Parker, with whom he supposedly has a contentious relationship.

When Hill was at Fordham University, he recruited Parker, who at the time was at the College of Southern Idaho.

Hill said they had a father-son relationship that at times was strained because Hill tried to get the academically challenged Parker pointed in the right direction.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote
Phil
Retired


Joined: 03 Aug 2001
Posts: 10007

PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 7:08 am    Post subject:

These days, Turiaf’s heart is his greatest asset

DAVE BOLING; THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Published: April 1st, 2006 01:00 AM
The remarkably recuperative Ronny Turiaf prompts an odd question: Could an NBA rookie be considered the league’s top comeback player?

Of course, “comeback” undersells Turiaf’s circumstances a bit. That’s usually for someone who bounces back from a bum knee or ankle.

Not heart surgery.

The NBA doesn’t present such an award anyway, but Turiaf’s action on the floor for the Los Angeles Lakers seems like more of a career resurrection – if such a thing can happen before a career starts.

ELAINE THOMPSON/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Former Gonzaga star Ronny Turiaf had six points and seven rebounds Friday against Seattle.
The former Gonzaga University star averages fewer than two points a game, but his contribution to the Lakers has little correlation with numbers, unless they apply to odds, to long shots.

Eight months after heart surgery, Ronny Turiaf was on the KeyArena floor with the Lakers on Friday night, flying to the boards with the same unrestrained verve he displayed so notably at Gonzaga.

Drafted in the second round in the summer of 2005, Turiaf’s career appeared either detoured or derailed entirely when a physical exam revealed an enlarged aorta root, a condition that, without surgical correction, could mean an aortic rupture and death.

“That was a little bump in the road,” Turiaf said before the game.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote
Phil
Retired


Joined: 03 Aug 2001
Posts: 10007

PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 7:10 am    Post subject:

Bryant puts Sonics to sleep

By Jayda Evans

Seattle Times staff reporter

It was an easy transition play.

Kobe Bryant and Los Angeles Lakers teammate Lamar Odom were already in the backcourt as Sonics guard Luke Ridnour charged down the floor in the opening four minutes of the game, spotting All-Star Ray Allen on the wing.

Bryant signaled for Odom to take Allen. He pointed. He turned to Odom and asked.

Odom didn't move, giving Allen a clear three-point shot, which he drained.

Yeah, not much defense was going to be played with these teams.

Flashy scoring was the theme as the Lakers defeated the Sonics 106-93 at KeyArena on Friday. Bryant led all scorers with 43 points.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote
Phil
Retired


Joined: 03 Aug 2001
Posts: 10007

PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 7:13 am    Post subject:

Kobe leads Lakers' charge
Bryant scores 43; Sonics vanish in second half

By GARY WASHBURN
P-I REPORTER

The ultimate question for the Los Angeles Lakers in their quest to avoid being a first-round playoff elimination victim is whether Kobe Bryant has enough support to beat a formidable opponent four times.

The Sonics might not have been a legitimate enough litmus test Friday night at KeyArena because they never challenged anyone besides Bryant to beat them.

The perennial All-Star scored 43 points and the Sonics melted down again in the third quarter as the Lakers cruised to a 106-93 victory in front of 17,072.

Bryant made 17 of 38 shots while his next highest scoring teammates were Kwame Brown and Lamar Odom, who each had 12. Bryant dominated in the pivotal second half, while the Lakers defense shut down the sputtering Sonics after the break.

Seattle shot under 30 percent in the second half, good enough for 37 points. Bryant compiled 24 points in the second half by himself.

"We just couldn't make a shot in the second half," Sonics coach Bob Hill said. "Rashard (Lewis) couldn't make a shot. Luke (Ridnour) couldn't make a shot. Ray (Allen) couldn't make a shot. In many respects, we beat ourselves."
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote
Phil
Retired


Joined: 03 Aug 2001
Posts: 10007

PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 7:14 am    Post subject:

Bryant scores 43 in fast-paced victory over Sonics

By Jayda Evans

Kobe Bryant, left, leans in and commits an offensive foul on Seattle's Mikki Moore. Bryant sparked a second-half comeback and scored 43 total points.

Enlarge this photo

ROD MAR / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Seattle's Ray Allen, left, loses the ball momentarily while being defended by Los Angeles' Luke Walton.

His team appeared to be dominating the visiting Los Angeles Lakers. The Sonics even had an early nine-point lead.

But coach Bob Hill had a bad feeling.

"We scored too easy and at some point that was going to subside," Hill said.

Hill's nightmare played before him in the second half as All-Star Kobe Bryant dazzled the sold-out crowd with his bag of shots and Hill's Sonics disappeared like invisible men in a 106-93 loss at KeyArena. The win, Los Angeles' fifth in its past six games, ends a three-game home winning streak for Seattle.

The Sonics were 13 for 44 from the field (29.5 percent) in the second half after shooting 45.8 percent in the opening half. All-Star Ray Allen, who normally takes over games in the fourth quarter — especially against Bryant — was 2 for 8 in the fourth quarter while forward Rashard Lewis was 1 for 5 in the second half overall.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote
Phil
Retired


Joined: 03 Aug 2001
Posts: 10007

PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 7:16 am    Post subject:

Lakers Better by a Third
For a change, they come out strong after halftime and beat Seattle, 106-93. Bryant scores 43 points.
By Mike Bresnahan, Times Staff Writer
April 1, 2006

SEATTLE — For once, the third quarter was an ally instead of an adversary, a pleasant surprise for a team that again found its way a day after losing to San Antonio.

It wasn't easy — it rarely is — but the Lakers tucked away the Seattle SuperSonics, 106-93, Friday at KeyArena, sprung by a portion of the game that usually sinks them.


The 12 minutes after halftime have been the end of many Laker games, but the Lakers outscored the Sonics this time, 29-17, turning a four-point deficit into an 81-73 lead.

With it, the Lakers remained 1 1/2 games ahead of eighth-place Sacramento with eight games left in their regular season, six at Staples Center.

Kobe Bryant had 43 points, Kwame Brown had 12 points and 13 rebounds, and the Lakers avoided losing to the team with the second-worst record in the Western Conference.

Bryant, who made 17 of 38 shots, had his 22nd 40-point game of the season, one shy of the team record set by Elgin Baylor in the 1962-63 season.

He had 14 points in the third quarter as the Lakers held the Sonics to four-for-21 shooting, a marked difference from Thursday, when the Lakers were outscored by the Spurs in the third quarter, 35-18, on the way to a 96-85 loss.

"The third quarter's been our nemesis," Bryant said. "We played well enough to give us a cushion going into the fourth."
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote
Phil
Retired


Joined: 03 Aug 2001
Posts: 10007

PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 7:17 am    Post subject:

Bryant plays it cool
Despite technical, he remains calm, scores 43 in win
By Ross Siler, Staff Writer

SEATTLE - This time, Kobe Bryant wasn't going to let the referee's whistle turn him into a ball-kicking, chair-punching picture of frustration against Ray Allen and the Seattle SuperSonics.

All Bryant wanted Friday night was an offensive foul call on Allen, the Sonics' All-Star guard. Instead, Bryant was called for his 14th technical of the season in the second quarter and his third personal with 9:26 left in the third.

But Bryant refused to be fall into another tailspin. He took over the game in the third quarter, scoring 14 of his 43 points, as the Lakers overcame the Sonics 106-93 at Key Arena.

"I just continued to attack," said Bryant, who went 17 of 38 from the field and played 46 minutes. "Fouls or no fouls, I just wanted to be aggressive."

It was Bryant's 22nd 40-point game of the season, one shy of Elgin Baylor's franchise record from 1962-63, and came as the Lakers bounced back from Thursday's loss to San Antonio with a much-needed win.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote
Phil
Retired


Joined: 03 Aug 2001
Posts: 10007

PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 7:20 am    Post subject:

Lakers notes: NBA 'tight' on Kobe
By Ross Siler, Staff Writer

SEATTLE - When 37-year-old veteran Toni Kukoc showed up for a game last week at Staples Center wearing full-length tights under his basketball shorts, the argument could be made that the Kobe Bryant-inspired craze had gone too far.

Apparently, the NBA agreed, deciding to ban for next season the tights that Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and others have worn this season, according to an ESPN.com report.

Bryant stopped wearing the tights two weeks ago when the tendinitis in his right knee returned, opting instead for a brace. He saw the report about the NBA's ban, though, and said he never was out to make a fashion statement.

"It's silly to me," Bryant said. "I use them for leg warmth. It's something that we use for the game itself."

Bryant also thought back to the NBA's decision to ban the compression shirts he wore under his jersey a couple of seasons ago. Bryant additionally wears a Nike brand of the tights; Devean George questioned if the NBA was just waiting to sell its own brand.

The NBA will require players who want to wear the tights to have a team doctor send a written request to the league detailing a "medical need," the report said.

As for the popularity of the tights - which Bryant prefers to call leg sleeves - the superstar guard said the reason is simple.

"Obviously, they saw me wearing them," Bryant said. "I'm wearing them for a reason. I think guys whose legs might get a little stiff throughout the course of the game might have tried them out in practice and saw that they actually work. They feel good."
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote
Phil
Retired


Joined: 03 Aug 2001
Posts: 10007

PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 7:22 am    Post subject:

Lakers make corrections
They turn things around defensively in the second half to win at Seattle.

By KEVIN DING
The Orange County Register

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SEATTLE – What Phil Jackson would like more than anything is for his Lakers to be able to fix what's wrong in the middle of a game. That power, Jackson knows, will be critical if the Lakers are to pull a playoff series upset.

And with less than a month until the postseason, the Lakers looked like an honors class Friday night in a 106-93 victory over the Seattle SuperSonics.

"We're improving," Kobe Bryant said. "This was a good test for us. They jumped on us, and we were able to get control of the game."
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