D'Antoni: *****!..... cat

[WuRaider]

http://www.pe.com/sports/basketball/lakers/stories/PE_Sports_Local_D_lakers_notes_21.43ce967.html

[SIZE=+2]Shaq Calls Kobe 'the Best'

[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]12:12 AM PST on Thursday, February 21, 2008

[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]By BRODERICK TURNER
The Press-Enterprise[/SIZE] PHOENIX - Shaquille O'Neal, who has made up with Kobe Bryant and seems more at ease with the Lakers, offered nothing but praise.
O'Neal, more than three years removed from his days with LA, had kind words about Bryant and the Lakers before making his Suns debut Wednesday night.
"Kobe is the best player in the game right now, and the Lakers are playing very well," O'Neal said. "This is probably a team that we will have to see in the playoffs. So it's going to be a good test."
The Lakers and Suns have met in the playoffs the past two years, with Phoenix the winner both times. Coach Phil Jackson and Suns coach Mike D'Antoni have exchanged words.
This has become a more intense rivalry, and now O'Neal has been added to the mix.
"I don't know if it can be any more (intense)," D'Antoni said. "It's pretty good. ... Hopefully, we don't meet them in the playoffs.
"It's a great rivalry. It's not heated. It's just good for basketball -- good competition, and with Shaq it just draws attention even more. And we've added one of the most dominant players in the league in the last 15 years on our team, so we feel pretty good."
O'Neal said he will defer to Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire and doesn't need as many touches as in past years.
"This is a well-oiled machine," O'Neal said. "I don't want to be the spark plug that slows us down."
The Suns know the Lakers improved by acquiring Pau Gasol and "feel like we have a better chance and are better prepared to win a championship" with O'Neal, D'Antoni said.
"That has to galvanize you, as it has the Lakers. You watch them the last few games with Gasol, they have an extra bounce in their step and they're playing really well. They've got a little bit of a head start on us, but we'll try to catch up."

Spurs Make Their Move
The Western Conference became more competitive Wednesday when the defending champion Spurs acquired Kurt Thomas from Seattle for Brent Barry and Francisco Elson.
"There's no doubt about the fact that P. J. would send him on over to San Antonio without any hesitation," Coach Phil Jackson said, referring to Sonics coach P. J. Carlesimo, who was an assistant with San Antonio for five seasons.
The Spurs joined the Suns and Mavericks in making improvements in the aftermath of the Gasol trade. So what will it take for a team to come out of the West?
"It's going to come down to who has the best goal-line 'D.' Who's got the best red-zone D. Who can stop teams, like the New York City football Giants," said Lamar Odom, a native New Yorker. "Who has the best defensive team at the end of the year, that's who is going to advance."

More Lakers Notes
Sasha Vujacic (15 points) scored in double figures for the seventh time in 10 games this month.
Corona's D. J. Strawberry had two assists in five scoreless minutes for the Suns.
Reach Broderick Turner at [email protected]

 

[WuRaider]

"Ah gee golly, they're pretty darn good, yuk yuk, hopefully we can avoid them."

 

[arwillan]

this is all stuff we knew already....

except we WILL beat the lakers in a 7-game series. count on that.

 

[WuRaider]

Shaq has been coached by PJ and Riley, I bet he looks at D'Antoni and sees a trash can with a vagina.

 

[Steel Sun]

Shaq has been coached by PJ and Riley, I bet he looks at D'Antoni and sees a trash can with a vagina.

OUCH!!!

 

[French Fries]

Shaq has been coached by PJ and Riley, I bet he looks at D'Antoni and sees a trash can with a vagina.

aw come on, don't be like that

 

[DeAnna]

Shaq has been coached by PJ and Riley, I bet he looks at D'Antoni and sees a trash can with a vagina.

What the heck does that even mean??

 

[TucsonDevil]

What happened to the "... doesn't matter. We'll just beat them in the playoffs again..." coach D?

 

[green machine]

Wow, context is key in a statement like this. If he's sitting there laughing his ass off while saying it, then that changes everything. Also notice the periods between "It's pretty good....Hopefully we don't...." Means something else fit in there that the writer omitted.

 

[abomb]

What happened to the "... doesn't matter. We'll just beat them in the playoffs again..." coach D?

More importantly, what happened to this guy;

"I thought he disrespected our players. But he likes to play the mind games, and that's fine," D'Antoni said at the time. "He might want to try to do it in playoff time when we bust them every year. We have them three more times [this season]. . . . That's fine."

"We will remember" and "Hopefully, we'll have the same opportunity to give it back to them."

 

[nowagimp]

What the heck does that even mean??

It means the poster expresses himself with trashcans and vaginas.

 

[Darth Llama]

Shaq has been coached by PJ and Riley, I bet he looks at D'Antoni and sees a trash can with a vagina.

That's ****ing hillarious dude!

 

[nashman]

Thats stupid and makes no sense

 

[Covert Rain]

"I don't know if it can be any more (intense)," D'Antoni said. "It's pretty good. ... Hopefully, we don't meet them in the playoffs.



Way to go D'Antoni. I should I say D'Anphony???

He talks the talk.."remember the we have 2 more game with you guys"..when he talked smack to PJ. How did that turn out?

I have said it before and I will say it again. If D'Antoni doesn't win it all this year, I want him gone.

 

[BeeBeard]

The last thing D'Antoni wants to do is give the Lakers bulletin board material. Better to just keep them overconfident headed into playoffs.

 

[nowagimp]

The last thing D'Antoni wants to do is give the Lakers bulletin board material. Better to just keep them overconfident headed into playoffs.

exactly, no extra motivation, they are tough enough already. Coaches shouldnt be trash talkers.

 

[WuRaider]

What the heck does that even mean??

His quote pissed me off and its no secret that he's garbage compared to the coaches Shaq has had in the past. Him getting on his knees and praising the almighty Lakers who he previously said would get their asses busted indicated that his balls went MIA.

 

[nashman]

This is a different Lakers team than he made comments about, get over it.

 

[green machine]

If it didn't happen already it has happened now: this board has officially lost its mind.

 

[WuRaider]

exactly, no extra motivation, they are tough enough already. Coaches shouldnt be trash talkers.

They shouldn't trash talk but they shouldn't disrespect their own players by claiming it would be better to avoid a certain team. It's possible he could have said it in jest to the LA beat writer, but I doubt it. He's the only coach that looks less confident than his players. I've never see a coach pace on the sidelines and look like he's a second away from crying as much as he does.

 

[BeeBeard]

They shouldn't trash talk but they shouldn't disrespect their own players by claiming it would be better to avoid a certain team. It's possible he could have said it in jest to the LA beat writer, but I doubt it. He's the only coach that looks less confident than his players. I've never see a coach pace on the sidelines and look like he's a second away from crying as much as he does.

When these guys are taken out of context, their comments sound all skewed. For example, does Gregg Popovich literally want to appoint himself to a committee that votes down every trade that would hurt the Spurs? No, that's just crazysauce.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

They shouldn't trash talk but they shouldn't disrespect their own players by claiming it would be better to avoid a certain team. It's possible he could have said it in jest to the LA beat writer, but I doubt it. He's the only coach that looks less confident than his players. I've never see a coach pace on the sidelines and look like he's a second away from crying as much as he does.

If I were Phil, I would have trashed both Kwame and Smush. Seriously.

 

[Ode to Ocho]

The last thing D'Antoni wants to do is give the Lakers bulletin board material. Better to just keep them overconfident headed into playoffs.

Haha. He wasn't doing that a couple months ago. Thats a far cry from:

"busting them in the playoffs every year," sound familar?

D'antoni's confidence is obviously shaken. Not a good sign when your coach is already buckling under the pressure. At least you guys have Shaq to rally around. I can guarantee the big fella would never talk like that.