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Jackson senses tension shakeup
Lakers coach not blaming Kobe for team's problems
By Howard Beck
Staff Writer
EL SEGUNDO -- The questions came, pointedly, before Phil Jackson had even settled in before the gathered media pack Thursday afternoon. Playing the part of Helen Thomas: Phil Jackson.
"Do any of you work for news organizations?" the Lakers' coach asked a befuddled huddle of reporters. "Does anyone know anything about the earthquake that we had this morning at 5:30?"
Blank stares met his query.
"Nobody's news organization covered the earthquake?"
Apparently not, although the seismic record did show a 2.9-magnitude temblor in the Manhattan Beach area -- too small for the natives to feel, but enough to roust a North Dakota native living in Playa Del Rey.
The Lakers' spiritual leader knows an omen when he feels one.
"Maybe," he said, "the Lord visited me in the wee hours of the morning" which begged the question of what kind of message a deity might be sending. "Shake it up, baby," Jackson said, chuckling.
Humor has become a necessary source of therapy this week, the Lakers' most stressful since Karl Malone returned a month ago and sparked a resurgence that, it seemed, would carry them deep into spring.
Consecutive losses to San Antonio and Portland have knocked the Lakers off course, probably snuffing out their shot at first place in the West and aggravating old tensions about offensive balance, and notably, Kobe Bryant's penchant for going solo.
This is well-traveled ground for the Lakers, so the veterans are generally unshaken by the shaking and rumbling that carries through the locker room each time Bryant strays. But the discontent was palpable, and audible, even during the winning streak, and more so now, after Bryant went 9 for 49 in the two defeats.
Jackson had to address it with his team, and again with reporters, though he kept his comments oblique enough to avoid the appearance of assessing blame. And he expressed confidence that Bryant will rein himself in for the stretch run.
"Kobe knows probably better than anybody on this team how to make this whole thing operate in a correct way. There's no doubt about it," Jackson said. "There's some part of Kobe that enjoys the degree of difficulty. And that's fun. There's a lot of fans in the stands that want him to surmont unsurmountable odds that sometimes work and sometimes don't. They didn't work the last two games.
"He'll find his way back into that very easily, because he's got the wherewithal to do it," Jackson said. "The rest of the team just has to settle their heads into the fact of playing basketball, and it'll work itself out."
Loosely translated, Jackson believes some players' ill feelings about Bryant's decision-making contributed to other breakdowns in the offense and to letdowns on defense. But he offered no insight into his strategy for settling the dispute.
"I usually say it's an internal matter," he said. "I get paid $75,000-$100,000 to give talks to management groups about how I handle those things, so I'm not giving you that free information. I addressed them today, pointedly addressed them today.
"What I thought was they were looking backwards at the San Antonio game instead of looking forward to the Portland game. As a consequence, everything kind of fell on Kobe's back. His effort to try and pick us up turned to naught, because Portland had the defensive wherewithal to be able to counter him with players that could collectively defend him and defensive centers that could block his shot. So I don't want to point any fingers at him."
Instead, Jackson pointed to the team's 20 turnovers and the flurry of missed free throws (Shaquille O'Neal went 3 for 10) against Portland.
Malone and Rick Fox again sounded off about defensive hustle and offensive execution. Malone said players were "kind of grumpy."
O'Neal slipped away without speaking to reporters, and his production the past two games -- 17 points in each loss -- probably explained his silence. Bryant also left without speaking to reporters.
Malone said the offense, which frequently drifts away from O'Neal, probably needs to go back to him as the Lakers work their way through the final four games of the regular season.
"Well, of course," he said. "Shoot, yeah, you want the offense to get back to him. But we were 11-0 and we weren't talking about that. We were talking about how well we were playing on defense. So I'm going to continue to say that, that our defense is what's going to win ballgames for us."
Lakers coach not blaming Kobe for team's problems
By Howard Beck
Staff Writer
EL SEGUNDO -- The questions came, pointedly, before Phil Jackson had even settled in before the gathered media pack Thursday afternoon. Playing the part of Helen Thomas: Phil Jackson.
"Do any of you work for news organizations?" the Lakers' coach asked a befuddled huddle of reporters. "Does anyone know anything about the earthquake that we had this morning at 5:30?"
Blank stares met his query.
"Nobody's news organization covered the earthquake?"
Apparently not, although the seismic record did show a 2.9-magnitude temblor in the Manhattan Beach area -- too small for the natives to feel, but enough to roust a North Dakota native living in Playa Del Rey.
The Lakers' spiritual leader knows an omen when he feels one.
"Maybe," he said, "the Lord visited me in the wee hours of the morning" which begged the question of what kind of message a deity might be sending. "Shake it up, baby," Jackson said, chuckling.
Humor has become a necessary source of therapy this week, the Lakers' most stressful since Karl Malone returned a month ago and sparked a resurgence that, it seemed, would carry them deep into spring.
Consecutive losses to San Antonio and Portland have knocked the Lakers off course, probably snuffing out their shot at first place in the West and aggravating old tensions about offensive balance, and notably, Kobe Bryant's penchant for going solo.
This is well-traveled ground for the Lakers, so the veterans are generally unshaken by the shaking and rumbling that carries through the locker room each time Bryant strays. But the discontent was palpable, and audible, even during the winning streak, and more so now, after Bryant went 9 for 49 in the two defeats.
Jackson had to address it with his team, and again with reporters, though he kept his comments oblique enough to avoid the appearance of assessing blame. And he expressed confidence that Bryant will rein himself in for the stretch run.
"Kobe knows probably better than anybody on this team how to make this whole thing operate in a correct way. There's no doubt about it," Jackson said. "There's some part of Kobe that enjoys the degree of difficulty. And that's fun. There's a lot of fans in the stands that want him to surmont unsurmountable odds that sometimes work and sometimes don't. They didn't work the last two games.
"He'll find his way back into that very easily, because he's got the wherewithal to do it," Jackson said. "The rest of the team just has to settle their heads into the fact of playing basketball, and it'll work itself out."
Loosely translated, Jackson believes some players' ill feelings about Bryant's decision-making contributed to other breakdowns in the offense and to letdowns on defense. But he offered no insight into his strategy for settling the dispute.
"I usually say it's an internal matter," he said. "I get paid $75,000-$100,000 to give talks to management groups about how I handle those things, so I'm not giving you that free information. I addressed them today, pointedly addressed them today.
"What I thought was they were looking backwards at the San Antonio game instead of looking forward to the Portland game. As a consequence, everything kind of fell on Kobe's back. His effort to try and pick us up turned to naught, because Portland had the defensive wherewithal to be able to counter him with players that could collectively defend him and defensive centers that could block his shot. So I don't want to point any fingers at him."
Instead, Jackson pointed to the team's 20 turnovers and the flurry of missed free throws (Shaquille O'Neal went 3 for 10) against Portland.
Malone and Rick Fox again sounded off about defensive hustle and offensive execution. Malone said players were "kind of grumpy."
O'Neal slipped away without speaking to reporters, and his production the past two games -- 17 points in each loss -- probably explained his silence. Bryant also left without speaking to reporters.
Malone said the offense, which frequently drifts away from O'Neal, probably needs to go back to him as the Lakers work their way through the final four games of the regular season.
"Well, of course," he said. "Shoot, yeah, you want the offense to get back to him. But we were 11-0 and we weren't talking about that. We were talking about how well we were playing on defense. So I'm going to continue to say that, that our defense is what's going to win ballgames for us."
