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CAN SHAQUILLE STEP UP? 5.16.02 by: Memo Menos Now that the SPURS are a footnote on the 2002 championship run, the LAKERS must focus their concentration on the SACRAMENTO KINGS. They were the best team during the regular season; they have home court advantage; they are hungry and they certainly have a reason to want to embarrass the LAKERS. Remember all those cow town and cowbell comments? The question will be whether SHAQUILLE O’NEAL can step up and perform despite his nagging injuries, and glaring lack of touch. Have you noticed that he has no shot? He is overpowering, and he can bowl over opponents. But when he is stopped from dunking the ball his shot is erratic. Take Tuesday’s game for instance. SHAQ clearly was having trouble elevating. More than once he found himself less than a foot from the basket, but rather than rolling the ball off his fingers with any sort of finesse, he tried to dunk, coming up woefully short each time. And on those occasions when SHAQ tried shots rather than go for the stuff, he just doesn’t have a go-to shot. Compounding matters is the fact that he hasn’t developed the fundamental practice of using the backboard on shots in close. That was one of the real gems of wisdom that legendary coach JOHN WOODEN taught all of his players-to shoot the bank shot. There are several reasons this is such a fundamental skill. First, it is an effective way of measuring your location on the court and your distance from the basket, particularly on a turnaround shot. Just watch TIM DUNCAN next year in Orlando. He is such a great player with a consistent shot because he uses the backboard. SHAQUILLE rarely uses this technique. The second reason WOODEN used to preach the bankshot is that the rebounds from such a shot are highly predictable. When missed, the boards tend to come down in the lane at the front of the rim, which by the way is usually open to a roaming offensive rebounder. This makes offensive rebounding a better option, and allows teammates to play off the shot. When SHAQ misses, the board usually clangs on either side of the basket making it difficult for a LAKER to get. In addition to playing smarter on offense, O’NEAL has to do better than 10 rebounds a game. Come on! You are the world champion MVP, you claim to be the best player in the league who was robbed of the league MVP, and your man is doubling you in rebounding numbers. DUNCAN had 23 to go with 24 points in the SPURS swan song. That is just embarrassing. Meanwhile, it would be nice if KOBE’S 1st, 2nd and 3rd quarter shooting percentage would resurface. His 4th quarter heroics have been a marvel to watch, but the LAKERS can’t expect to get behind and rely on him to pull things out down the stretch, especially against the high powered offense of the KINGS. I seriously doubt they will be scoring in the teens in the final frame of these upcoming games. The LAKERS go into this series as the underdog, or so they say. It certainly doesn’t hurt that PEJA STOJAKOVIC will miss the first 2 games of the series with a sprained ankle (if indeed that is true). That makes it imperative for the LAKERS to get at least 1 in Sacramento. If only they could get back their game from last year, when they went 15-1 throughout the playoffs. They are 7-1 this time around and haven’t played a good game yet. Now is the time! RIVER RUN 5.13.02 by: Memo Menos The LAKERS spent the weekend running the River(walk) in San Antonio. They went to the Alamo and remembered the SPURS can’t beat the LAKERS. They choke in the 4th quarter. They took the punch out of the picante, and TIM DUNCAN’T and the rest of the SURS that didn’t jingle, jangle jingle, just pican’t possibly win 3 games in a row against the 2-time defending worlds champions. So this one is over, abi,bidah, bidah, bidah, that’s all folks. On Friday evening, SHAQUILLE O’NEAL finally woke up, after getting pasted to the floor by MALIK ROSE on a breakaway dunk. SHAQ made the shot, and got a fragrant foul for the effort, and though he missed 2 to make 1 from the free throw line, the LAKERS got the ball out of bounds and scored the 4-point play. It was a turning point for O’NEAL who seemed to finally come to life. He scored, he rebounded, he blocked a shot or two, and the LAKERS had their general back, at least for a quarter. It was KOBE BRYANT who took the game over in the 4th, giving the LAKERS a 10-point win in one of the tightest games I have ever seen. Neither team took more than a 5-point lead throughout the first 3 quarters, and just a one team looked like they begin to stretch it out; the other would rally back. It was a fantastic game and a crucial win for the LAKERS who would have really been in trouble if they had lost. So Sunday’s game was not as critical for the LAKERS. They trailed by 10 points with less than 5 minutes to go, and it didn’t matter all that much. Except to KOBE. He had missed his last 7 shots from the field. He was 1 for 5 from the free throw line. And then he turned it on. He scored 10 points in 4 plus minutes of play. He scored the last 8 LAKER points. He hit 2 improbable 3-pointers which tied the game. And then he stunned the San Antones; he flabbergasted a national television audience, and cemented his clutch status with Los Angeles fans with a spidey leap and grasp of a DERREK FISHER miss. KOBE landed and sprung immediately back up sliding between DUNCAN and ROBINSON to gently score the winning basket with a delicate finger roll of epic impact. It was an amazing display, and it broke the backs and hearts of the SPURS. They had 5 seconds to recover, but in the huddle you could see the devastation on their faces. DUNCAN looked like the most valuable zombie. He was spent. You could see the "I’m going to Orlando" look all over his face. SHAQ was right, KOBE was robbed of the MVP award. It is KOBE who has kept this LAKER team in the hunt for championship #3. It was KOBE and not TIM DUNACN that was the most valuable player on this court. To be fair, DUNCAN wasn’t even close to the value that JASON KIDD exhibited on this day for his NEW JERSEY team, going for a near triple-double with countless stitches in his swollen eye. The LAKERS and the NETS are still on course to make the finals. The SPURS aren’t, thanks to an exciting weekend of river running by the world champions. MISSED CHANCES by Bill Manuel 5.8.02 It was a night of missed chances, as the LAKERS lost to the SAN ANTONIO SPURS Tuesday at Staples. Who cares that their 18 game home win streak was ended, or that their playoff dominance in winning 20 of 21 playoff games was marred. The LAKERS could have sent the SPURS home on suicide watch, had they beaten them for the second straight time playing like the GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS. Can you imagine if the furious comeback had been successful, the SPURS would have been babbling fools on the flight home: bah ba bah ba bah ba bah bah bah. LOS ANGELES played about as bad as they could play. They trailed by 21 in the 2nd quarter, 16 at the half, cut the lead to 4, only to let it slip back up to 16 late in the 3rd. They gave it a bit of a try in the 4th quarter, cutting the lead to 1 point, before letting the game get away. They missed a great opportunity to thwart the league’s efforts to balance this series. I mean, how many calls can the referees miss, while within breeze distance of the play? If they were any closer to the calls they missed, they would have to have been in the play themselves. Several come to mind-like the 3 point play, what could have been a 4 point difference as the SPURS faked a timeout. How do you fake a timeout? MALIK ROSE dribbled past the half-court line going directly towards his bench. The SAN ANTONIO coaching staff got off their duffs and were on the court, three of them no less, along with a player or two. The zebras should have called a technical foul on SAN ANTONIO, or 4 of them. You can’t come onto the floor during play. The ref nearly tripped over POPOVICH and his pranksters as they measured their Ballys on the 3-point line. Instead, ROSE waqs allowed to sneak towards the rim and get fouled as he made a gimee. Come on! There were other very questionable calls. How about the technical foul called on DEREK FISHER after he was hit in the arm on a 3-point shot in the 1st quarter. He made the shot, but PARKER fouled him. It should have been a 4-point play, instead the SPURS got a freebee. The ref was hit by flaking skin that was brushed off DEREK’S arm, he was so close to the call. That’s a 2 point switch in a critical game. Besides, the league has always called fouls on 3-point shots very closely. The shot is difficult enough, if the shooter is hit at all in the long range shot process, it’s a foul! Period! But, no call, and vinegar for FISHER to boot. There was a charging foul called on KOBE despite big JOE BRYANT being in the "protected area". It zeroed out a basket, and hampered KOBE with a personal foul he should not have had. And on the LAKERS last gasp, when SHAQ stripped TIM DUNCAN of the ball, DUNCAN was all over SHAQ, holding his arm, falling on top of him; it was a foul if it wasn’t 3 fouls. No call, though, and KOBE went on to force a pass or shot or whatever that came back to him for traveling. We could have used some free throws by SHAQ on that play. But the league wants this one to go 7 and so the SPURS won it, 88-85. That last play by SHAQ nearly erased an absolutely awful game by the LAKERS center. For most of the night he was still playing SPIDER-MAN with his kids somewhere. DUNCAN thoroughly outplayed him. SHAQ was out-rebounded by the league’s MVP 17-7. Worse still, SHAQ was beaten to offensive rebounds on 4 consecutive plays down the stretch by MALIK ROSE or some other hustling SPUR. It looked like SHAQ was wearing space boots-you know the ones that anchor you to the surface in a state of no gravity. The LAKERS could have won going away had they gotten even half of these boards, as the SPURS had hit the wall. They couldn’t score, but SHAQ couldn’t get a rebound. DUNCAN outscored SHAQ 27-19. And DUNCAN played better defense than SHAQ, blocking 3 more shots than O’NEAL. But worse than that, late in the game with the LAKERS surging, SHAQ made a mistaken switch from MALIK ROSE to DUNCAN underneath the basket as ROSE cut off of DUNCAN after an entry pass. Even the HOBGOBLIN knows that’s a no-no, and he doesn’t even play roundball. It left ROSE open for a lay-in dunk and kept the SPURS in the lead at a time when the LAKERS were nearly back from the big deficits. SHAQ looked like he had been bitten by a spider last night, and it wasn’t the spider that allows you to spin silk and feel light as a feather. No super powers here. Superhuman he wasn’t. So SHAQ missed the chance to show DUNCAN he really was robbed of the MVP award. The SPURS would have been completely demoralized had they lost this one. Instead, they fly home to the Riverwalk having accomplished just what they wanted from the first 2 games of the series in L.A., a split and home court advantage. That’s not as troubling as the lack of LAKER offense in the first 2 games of this series. They wouldn’t have even been in this game if not for some critical 3-point shooting by BRIAN SHAW. Remember, he was the one who had to take the $1 million cut in pay to stay on the team. Perhaps they could avoid the luxury tax if they deduct $500,000 from SHAQ’S salary for every rebound under 10 that the big guy gets during the playoffs. Just a thought. And by the way, where was MITCH RICHMOND last night? In a completely anemic offense, isn’t there even a minute or two for a dream-teamer, hall-of-famer who has scored more than 25,000 points in his career? MISSED CHANCES 5.8.02 By Bill Manuel It was a night of missed chances, as the LAKERS lost to the SAN ANTONIO SPURS Tuesday at Staples. Who cares that their 18 game home win streak was ended, or that their playoff dominance in winning 20 of 21 playoff games was marred. The LAKERS could have sent the SPURS home on suicide watch, had they beaten them for the second straight time playing like the GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS. Can you imagine if the furious comeback had been successful, the SPURS would have been babbling fools on the flight home: bah ba bah ba bah ba bah bah bah. LOS ANGELES played about as bad as they could play. They trailed by 21 in the 2nd quarter, 16 at the half, cut the lead to 4, only to let it slip back up to 16 late in the 3rd. They gave it a bit of a try in the 4th quarter, cutting the lead to 1 point, before letting the game get away. They missed a great opportunity to thwart the league’s efforts to balance this series. I mean, how many calls can the referees miss, while within breeze distance of the play? If they were any closer to the calls they missed, they would have to have been in the play themselves. Several come to mind-like the 3 point play, what could have been a 4 point difference as the SPURS faked a timeout. How do you fake a timeout? MALIK ROSE dribbled past the half-court line going directly towards his bench. The SAN ANTONIO coaching staff got off their duffs and were on the court, three of them no less, along with a player or two. The zebras should have called a technical foul on SAN ANTONIO, or 4 of them. You can’t come onto the floor during play. The ref nearly tripped over POPOVICH and his pranksters as they measured their Ballys on the 3-point line. Instead, ROSE waqs allowed to sneak towards the rim and get fouled as he made a gimee. Come on! There were other very questionable calls. How about the technical foul called on DEREK FISHER after he was hit in the arm on a 3-point shot in the 1st quarter. He made the shot, but PARKER fouled him. It should have been a 4-point play, instead the SPURS got a freebee. The ref was hit by flaking skin that was brushed off DEREK’S arm, he was so close to the call. That’s a 2 point switch in a critical game. Besides, the league has always called fouls on 3-point shots very closely. The shot is difficult enough, if the shooter is hit at all in the long range shot process, it’s a foul! Period! But, no call, and vinegar for FISHER to boot. There was a charging foul called on KOBE despite big JOE BRYANT being in the "protected area". It zeroed out a basket, and hampered KOBE with a personal foul he should not have had. And on the LAKERS last gasp, when SHAQ stripped TIM DUNCAN of the ball, DUNCAN was all over SHAQ, holding his arm, falling on top of him; it was a foul if it wasn’t 3 fouls. No call, though, and KOBE went on to force a pass or shot or whatever that came back to him for traveling. We could have used some free throws by SHAQ on that play. But the league wants this one to go 7 and so the SPURS won it, 88-85. That last play by SHAQ nearly erased an absolutely awful game by the LAKERS center. For most of the night he was still playing SPIDER-MAN with his kids somewhere. DUNCAN thoroughly outplayed him. SHAQ was out-rebounded by the league’s MVP 17-7. Worse still, SHAQ was beaten to offensive rebounds on 4 consecutive plays down the stretch by MALIK ROSE or some other hustling SPUR. It looked like SHAQ was wearing space boots-you know the ones that anchor you to the surface in a state of no gravity. The LAKERS could have won going away had they gotten even half of these boards, as the SPURS had hit the wall. They couldn’t score, but SHAQ couldn’t get a rebound. DUNCAN outscored SHAQ 27-19. And DUNCAN played better defense than SHAQ, blocking 3 more shots than O’NEAL. But worse than that, late in the game with the LAKERS surging, SHAQ made a mistaken switch from MALIK ROSE to DUNCAN underneath the basket as ROSE cut off of DUNCAN after an entry pass. Even the HOBGOBLIN knows that’s a no-no, and he doesn’t even play roundball. It left ROSE open for a lay-in dunk and kept the SPURS in the lead at a time when the LAKERS were nearly back from the big deficits. SHAQ looked like he had been bitten by a spider last night, and it wasn’t the spider that allows you to spin silk and feel light as a feather. No super powers here. Superhuman he wasn’t. So SHAQ missed the chance to show DUNCAN he really was robbed of the MVP award. The SPURS would have been completely demoralized had they lost this one. Instead, they fly home to the Riverwalk having accomplished just what they wanted from the first 2 games of the series in L.A., a split and home court advantage. That’s not as troubling as the lack of LAKER offense in the first 2 games of this series. They wouldn’t have even been in this game if not for some critical 3-point shooting by BRIAN SHAW. Remember, he was the one who had to take the $1 million cut in pay to stay on the team. Perhaps they could avoid the luxury tax if they deduct $500,000 from SHAQ’S salary for every rebound under 10 that the big guy gets during the playoffs. Just a thought. And by the way, where was MITCH RICHMOND last night? In a completely anemic offense, isn’t there even a minute or two for a dream-teamer, hall-of-famer who has scored more than 25,000 points in his career?
5.6.2002 By Sashya Waterman Despite scoring a season-low 13 points in the first quarter and a season-low for a half, 32, the NBA World Champion Los Angeles Lakers defeated the San Antonio Spurs 86-80 at Staples Center on Sunday. There would be no reason to worry about the poor start for the Lakers, who trailed the Spurs at the start of each quarter, because the Spurs had their own problems. TIM DUNCAN, the Spurs go-to guy, went zero for ten from the field during the first half. The entire Spurs team finished the game shooting only 31.8% from the field. To top it all off, the Spurs admittedly let an opportunity sail out of bounds. San Antonio failed to take advantage of the absence of SHAQUILLE O’NEAL in the third quarter. O’Neal had to leave the game after suffering a gash in his right index finger. Furthermore, they were unable to capitalize on KOBE BRYANT’s absence for most of the fourth quarter after accidentally getting kicked in the knee by the Spurs’ BRUCE BOWEN. O’Neal says his father, PHILLIP HARRISON, called him in the locker room and told him to get back to the hardwood and finish the game. Thankfully O’Neal returned and scored 13 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter. During Shaq’s absence, SAMAKI WALKER held his own with Tim Duncan, scoring 12 points and snatching 9 rebounds in 25 minutes against his former team. Without regard to a tennis-ball sized lump on his right knee, the phenomenal KOBE BRYANT played the final 4:36 of the game and scored what turned out to be the game sealing short jump shot. The Dagger said, "If you can walk you belong out there." Fortunately, the Lakers worse game for the second round of the playoffs is probably behind them. Unfortunately, the Spurs worse game for the second round of the playoffs is probably behind them. In game two look for more Shaq, Kobe and Duncan demonstrating their basketball brilliance and hope that the Lakers role players make more of an impact than the four for twenty-three combined field goals from RICK FOX, DEREK FISHER and BRIAN SHAW. Game 2 in the best of seven, Western Conference Semi-Finals will be held Tuesday, May 7 in Los Angeles. SAD DAY FOR LOS ANGELES LAKERS BASKETBALL 4.30.02 by Sashya Waterman T  he NBA logo, Mr. Clutch, Zeke from Cross Creek is packing away the golf clubs and moving his expertise to Memphis. Hall of famer, JERRY WEST, the Lakers’ Mr. Basketball, will leave his stress-free job as consultant to the 6-time NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers in favor of the top management position with the lowly Memphis Grizzlies. After years of complaining about the pressure of a career in basketball, he will leave the reigning NBA World Champions for an expansion team that hasn’t won a playoff game and won only 23 games this last season.The split with the Lakers is an amicable one, of course, because Mr. West is a Los Angeles basketball icon, who holds the highest respect around the league from player to management. Recall it was West along with another basketball legend and Laker executive, BILL SHARMAN, who constructed the Showtime team of KAREEM ABDUL-JABAAR, EARVIN "MAGIC" JOHNSON and JAMES WORTHY. Moreover, it was West who brought SHAQUILLE O’NEAL, KOBE BRYANT and DEREK FISHER to the Lakers in 1996. It was West’s chat with Bryant that helped him play better team basketball and ultimately led to the consecutive titles enjoyed by Los Angeles. As a result of his basketball brilliance, West’s opinion and decisions have many times been taken as gospel. So, there he goes to Memphis to start from the bottom using the NBA Rookie of the Year, PAU GASOL and NBA All-Rookie Team pick, SHANE BATTIER to build upon. Good luck, Jerry, we’ll miss you. And, thanks for the memories. WHO NEEDS HOMECOURT, ANYWAY! 4.4.02 by Bill Manuel SUPERMAN, where are you now? The KINGS are closing in somehow. With eight games to go, We’re three below, And really, no where to go. There are too many NETS, And too many SUNS, Making too many shots, And not enough KOBE to go ‘round. It seems LAKERLAND these days is a "Land of Confusion", with just 7 games left, SACRAMENTO finds itself 3 games ahead in the loss column. The DALLAS MAVERICKS may very well finish below L.A., but will be the second seed by virtue of winning the Midwest Division, leaving the world champions the possibility of having to steal the advantage from both Sacramento and Dallas. Even more confusing is the physical status of SHAQUILLE O’NEAL, who was unexpectedly pulled from the game, an important one, because of a "sore wrist". It must have been sore given the clanging shooting game SHAQ had the evening before, but the team needed this win in a difficult back-to-back on the road against the best team in the East. It is entirely possible the LAKERS would meet the NETS in the finals for all the marbles in several weeks, so a win here would have kept them in their place. It hardly seems much of a threat, particularly if O’NEAL is healthy. Likewise, it is not all that much of a concern should the KINGS end up with the best record in the league. The LAKERS swept these same KINGS last year at just about this time. Nevertheless, KOBE came out to start the second half with a particular fire, and that look in his eye. The LAKERS were dominated in the first half by BYRON SCOTT’S team. PHIL JACKSON clearly didn’t prepare his defense for the absence of SUPERMAN, and as a result the NETS ran lay-up and dunk drills in the first half. They led by as many as 19 points, but KOBE was determined to carry the LAKERS on his shoulders. He scored 15 points in the 3rd quarter, 2 more than he had in the first half, and the LAKERS trailed by only 6 points going into the final frame. There it looked like the team was home free, with KOBE continuing to scorch the NETS, and DEVEAN GEORGE and DEREK FISHER joining the show. The LAKERS went on a 16-2 run and led by 8 points with 6 minutes to play. But there the supporting cast ran out of steam. Where was MITCH RICHMOND, he could have helped here? What has happened to RICK FOX, he was nonexistent with 6 points and 4 rebounds in 26 minutes, despite his lovely wife VANESSA WILLIAMS going INTO THE WOODS at the Meadowlands (fresh from her stint as a wood nymph in Los Angeles, and soon to be on Broadway). BRIAN SHAW rarely does much in the clutch these days, let’s hope he’s saving it for the playoffs. And ROBERT HORRY only made 1 basket, a 3-pointer mind you that brought the team to within 1 point with just ticks remaining. But we need more production from such a shooter, especially if O’NEAL is in the locker room. As it was, KOBE nearly tied the game with an unlikely tip-in after a missed free throw by FOX, in a play that couldn’t have been drawn up any better. KOBE claims he was fouled on the attempt, and finished the game with 33 points and 14 rebounds. With just the tiniest bit more of support, it would have been another spectacular performance for a win. I suppose it is a little arrogant to think this LAKER team could possibly end the season with home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. After all, they have lost 11 times in the second game of back-to-back performances. They’ve lost 15 times on the road; DALLAS is the best road team with only 12 losses. They’ve lost 7 times at home; SACRAMENTO and NEW JERSEY(go figure), have better home records. And they have lost to nearly every team with a below 500 winning percentage. How could they possibly finish with the best record in the league? The question is can they win their third championship with those credentials? So this is a loss we’ll live with The KINGS will have the advantage Not to get too excited So long as SHAQUILLE gets better, soon. TO BE THE BEST YOU’VE GOT TO BEAT THE BEST 3.25.2002 by Sashya Waterman From the opening tip it looked as if the league leading SACRAMENTO KINGS would defeat the defending back-to-back NBA Champion LOS ANGELES LAKERS with the same energy that kept the Lakers at 0-2 on their latest Texas road trip. After only three minutes of the Pacific Division matchup Laker coach PHIL JACKSON replaced fledgling starting point guard, LINDSAY HUNTER, with dependable DEREK FISHER and the competition tightened until the very last possession and the Lakers snatched a win at Arco Arena 97-96 where the Kings are now 32-4. Although the Kings started with a lot of energy the Lakers had a counter attack, for every streaking King player there was a Laker defender stuck to his man like glue and for every fancy pass there was a long Laker arm forcing a turnover. By slowing the tempo the Lakers got to run their own offense, the triangle. And when it went inside to SHAQUILLE O’NEAL and back out, the Lakers scored with either a layup or dunk by O’Neal, a spontaneous glide to the basket by KOBE BRYANT or an outside jumper by ROBERT HORRY, SLAVA MEDVEDENKO or Fisher. Throughout the game the referees let the teams play with what looked like playoff intensity, whether the defense smothered Kobe or hacked Shaq or Horry poked HEDO TURKOGLU in the face. The refs did have their eye on a flopping VLADE DIVACS, and called three first-half fouls on O’Neal, who played only sixteen of the first twenty-four minutes. O’Neal eventually fouled out with less than a minute and a half remaining and it was Kobe’s turn to run the offense. Kobe made what turned out to be the game winning field goal while CHRIS WEBBER continued his field goal struggles and missed the shot that could have put the Kings two and a half games ahead of the Lakers in the West. Instead, the Lakers are only a half game behind the Kings for the best record in the NBA. The truth remains that the playoffs start in late-April and the title goes through Los Angeles regardless of which team has the best record or homecourt advantage. Sound off: Send us your comments/complaints!
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