April 19th: "Odom Shapes Up on Triangle" "Lakers' Bynum shows flashes" "Playoff Experience Lacking"

[Phil]

Odom Shapes Up on Triangle
By Mike Bresnahan, Times Staff Writer
April 19, 2006

As first impressions go, Lamar Odom's was incomplete and unfulfilling, tumultuous and a tease.

The Laker forward had every intention of starting out the right way in Coach Phil Jackson's complex triangle offense, but it didn't quite happen that way.

He lined up on the wrong side of the court in a last-second loss to Washington and incurred the wrath of Kobe Bryant. He was called for a late charge in Sacramento when he should have held the ball and milked the clock, a four-point Laker lead eventually becoming a loss.

He would have games to remember — a near-triple-double against Phoenix, with 23 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists — but also ones to forget, including consecutive December games against Houston and Dallas in which he totaled only 10 points.

It was a difficult start for Odom, 28, but the last seven games have been his best stretch of basketball as a Laker. He has averaged 17.4 points, 10.4 rebounds and 6.1 assists this month and shown definitive signs of grasping the triangle.

"I think it's really complicated, especially if you're used to playing one way for so long," Odom said. "Some guys don't need the ball, but you're just used to having the ball in your hands, and I was one of them. It took me some time to learn how to cut, pass the ball, make a strong cut to free somebody else up or to get yourself a layup. I've gotten a lot better at that.

"It takes time too to also have confidence in teammates to run it. It took Kobe some time for him to have confidence in us that we would run the right play or know what we were doing out there."

[Phil]

Big man, small steps
Lakers' Bynum shows flashes, but is brought along slowly
BY ROSS SILER, Staff Writer

EL SEGUNDO - What nobody heard were the words before Andrew Bynum announced himself to the NBA.

They came in a timeout late in the second quarter of the Lakers' Jan. 16 game against the Miami Heat. Bynum was in for Kwame Brown and about to match up against Shaquille O'Neal when Kobe Bryant issued a challenge.

"I had 30 the first time I played against Mike," Bryant said. "What are you going to do?"

What was Bynum supposed to say? He was 10 years old when Bryant scored 33 points in his second season against Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. The next thing Bynum knew, O'Neal was using him as a pogo-stick for a mega dunk.

Everyone knows the story from there. Bynum picked himself up, raced to the other end, took a pass from Bryant and used a spin move learned from all those mornings with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to leave O'Neal in his wake on a dunk.

"The city of L.A. loved it," Bynum said.

[Phil]

Playoff experience is lacking
BY ROSS SILER, Staff Writer

EL SEGUNDO - Even after signing veteran guard Jim Jackson at the start of March, the Lakers still ranked as the NBA's sixth-youngest team, with an average age of barely 25 years old.

The five teams younger than the Lakers - Atlanta, Portland, Boston, Charlotte and Golden State - all will see their seasons come to an end tonight. The Lakers, on the other hand, will open the playoffs on the road either Saturday or Sunday.

These Lakers not only have been the youngest team Phil Jackson ever has coached, but will head into the playoffs with the least postseason experience as well.

Kobe Bryant will be making his ninth trip to the playoffs, Aaron McKie his 10th and Devean George his sixth. Among the starters, Lamar Odom, Luke Walton and Kwame Brown will be going for their second time and Smush Parker for his first.

"We do know that there's a lot of experience to be garnered in this upcoming series," Jackson said, "and we think our players are going to be really hungry and desirous to go out there and prove a point."

[Phil]

Lakers host Hornets at Staples Center
LAST UPDATE: 4/19/2006 11:22:34 AM

The Los Angeles Lakers try to closeout the regular season with five straight wins and head into the playoffs as the seventh seed, as they host the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets tonight at the Staples Center.
,A win by the Lakers tonight would mean that they would meet Phoenix in the first round. A loss would give the Lakers an opening-round matchup with the defending world champion San Antonio Spurs.

The Lakers, who are finishing the campaign on a five-game homestand, qualified for the postseason after a one-year absence. Last season, the Lakers finished just 34-48 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 1994.

On Sunday, superstar Kobe Bryant poured in 43 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out five assists as the Lakers clinched a playoff spot by beating the Phoenix Suns, 109-89, at the Staples Center.

[Phil]

New Orl/OKC (38-43) at LA Lakers (44-37)
Preview - Box Score - Recap
Game Info: 10:30 pm EDT Wed Apr 19, 2006
TV: COX, FxW Add to Calendar
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Teams generally would prefer going into the playoffs coming off a win. The Western Conference team to which it may matter the most is the Los Angeles Lakers.

Kobe Bryant and the Lakers can clinch the the seventh seed in the West, and avoid a first-round series with the defending champions, if they defeat the New Orleans Hornets in the regular season finale for both teams.

Back in the playoffs after a one-year absence, Los Angeles enters this matchup with a half-game lead over Sacramento for the No. 7 spot. The Kings ended their regular season on Tuesday by beating Seattle, leaving the Lakers needing a win to avoid falling to the No. 8 spot because they lost the tiebreaker with Sacramento.

While the eighth seed must face San Antonio in the opening round, the No. 7 seed will open against a Phoenix team which is just 8-9 since March 15.

"Whoever we play, it's going to be tough because it's two great teams," said Bryant, who needs just three points to become the first player since Michael Jordan in 1987-88 to average 35 or more.

"We just have to make sure we do our homework and go out there and try to execute."

[Phil]

All is good, for a change, in Los Angeles

Published: Wednesday, April 19, 2006

All seems well in Tinseltown again. Tom and Katie are about to become proud parents. So are Brad and Angelina.

Dodger Stadium looks better than ever, and Jack Nicholson looks as though he's had a bit of a makeover, too.

The beautiful people are still beautiful. The Clippers are no longer pitiful.

And the Lakers are back in the NBA playoffs.

Yes, those Lakers. You might remember them from a few years back when Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal were buddies, courtside seats cost $2,000 a game, and the biggest problem owner Jerry Buss had was figuring out how many diamonds to put on the championship rings.

Not everything has changed.

Sitting near Nicholson will still set you back a mortgage payment or two. The Laker Girls still look Hollywood perfect, and Bryant still shoots every time he touches the ball within 25 feet of the basket.

But even in Tinseltown not everything goes according to script. The dynasty was unraveled quickly when Kobe and Shaq started feuding, Kobe and Phil stopped talking, and Kobe had to go to Colorado to do a lot of explaining.

Things got so bad that B-list celebrities were allowed to sit at courtside.

Gone are the old Lakers who used to swagger into the playoffs knowing they could beat anyone.

In their place is a team just happy to still be playing this coming weekend.

"It doesn't really seem like we're overly jumping for joy, but it is a great accomplishment for us," Bryant said after the Lakers beat Phoenix to clinch a playoff spot Sunday. "We came from last season when we didn't make it. This season nobody expected us to make it and here we are."

[Phil]

Finishing kick
Playoff matchups at stake on season's final night
Posted: Wednesday April 19, 2006 12:58PM; Updated: Wednesday April 19, 2006 2:35PM
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Wednesday night marks the end of the 2005-06 NBA regular season. There are 14 games scheduled, with some last-minute jockeying for playoff position at stake.

The main intrigue will be in the East, where the Wizards, Bucks, Bulls and Pacers are battling it out for seeds 5-8. Over in the West, the Lakers and Kings are fighting for the No. 7 and No. 8 spots.

Here's a look at what's at stake for each team Wednesday night:

Finishing kick

LAKERS (44-37)
Tonight's opponent: Hornets
Possible finish: 7th or 8th in the Western Conference

The skinny: It's simple. If the Lakers win, they get the No. 7 seed and a first-round matchup with the Suns. If they lose, they fall to No. 8 and draw the Spurs. The Lakers finished 1-3 against both Phoenix and San Antonio during the season series but would no doubt rather face the Suns than the Spurs. Nobody wants to play defending champion San Antonio, under any circumstance. Meanwhile, Phoenix has dropped nine of its last 17 games heading into Wednesday's contest against the Blazers, including a 109-89 loss to the Lakers last Sunday (though Steve Nash and Raja Bell sat out with injuries).

[Phil]

Lakers, Wizards in control heading into final night
Posted: Wednesday Apr 19, 2006 12:31 PM
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Kobe Bryant and the Lakers are playing to dodge the Spurs. The Wizards want a win for the first crack at LeBron.

Los Angeles and Washington are the teams in most control of their playoff futures as the NBA's regular season heads into its final night Wednesday. Also to be determined: the postseason destinations of Chicago, Indiana, Milwaukee and Sacramento.
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The Lakers host the New Orleans Hornets, who had their own postseason hopes before a poor finish. If Los Angeles wins, it would open against No. 2 seed Phoenix, forcing the Kings to face defending champion San Antonio in the opening round.

If the Lakers lose, they finish with the same record as the Kings, who would own the tiebreaker and take the No. 7 seed. Bryant claims to not care which team the Lakers play - but he averaged 42.5 points this season against the Suns.

"Not really. We just have to prepare,'' he said. "Whoever we play, it's going to be tough because it's two great teams. We just have to make sure we do our homework and go out there and try to execute.''