A QUIETLY CONFIDENT KOBE; LAKERS' BRYANT SHAKES OFF PLAYOFF NIGHTMARES.Byline: Howard Beck Daily News Staff Writer The four airballs that ended the 1997 playoffs? Yes, Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant (born July 23 1978) is an American All-Star shooting guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA) who plays for the Los Angeles Lakers. thought about those. The shooting slump after the All-Star break? Yeah, that too. But those were just two minor synapse synapse (sĭn`ăps), junction between various signal-transmitter cells, either between two neurons or between a neuron and a muscle or gland. A nerve impulse reaches the synapse through the axon, or transmitting end, of a nerve cell, or neuron. clicks among dozens of memories passing through Bryant's head in the fourth quarter Friday night, as he led the Lakers' victory over the Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers are a professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. They play in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The franchise, based in Portland throughout its existence, entered the league in 1970 and has won the NBA Championship once, in 1977. in Game 1 of the first-round playoff series. Bryant's 11 points in 8-1/2 minutes keyed the fourth-quarter comeback. His first playoff game Noun 1. playoff game - one game in the series of games constituting a playoff game - a single play of a sport or other contest; "the game lasted two hours" playoff - any final competition to determine a championship of '98 thus presented a nice contrast to his last playoff game of '97 - when the then-rookie's airballs in the fourth quarter and overtime became a symbol of the Lakers' Game 5 conference semifinal loss to Utah. ``I'm not gonna lie and say it didn't cross my mind. It did cross my mind,'' Bryant said. ``But also all the close games that we had this past season, I try to recall all the little (contributions I made) . . . whether it's at the free-throw line free-throw line n. See foul line. or a rebound or a shot. That kind of gets your confidence up.'' So he might also have thought about the free throws and breakaway dunk that helped beat the Jazz in Salt Lake City back in November. Or the 30-point game at Dallas in December. The 18-point second half in a huge comeback at Phoenix in January. And many subtle plays along the way that might have turned a game's momentum or kept a Lakers run going. He visualizes these moments during timeouts whenever he can. ``That's when you're more relaxed, that's when you try to conjure up or make visible, as a spirit, by magic arts; hence, to invent; as, to conjure up a story; to conjure up alarms s>. See also: Conjure past experiences, try to make yourself calm down a little bit,'' Bryant said. ``During every down time I was thinking back to past experiences - this NBA NBA abbr. 1. National Basketball Association 2. National Boxing Association NBA (US) n abbr (= National Basketball Association) → Basketball-Dachverband (= season, the last NBA season, high school.'' The past two years have provided Bryant with a wealth of high points and low points. His brief pro career reads like a Dow Jones-like graph - a fast and steady upward climb, with a few noteworthy downward spikes along the chart. He survived the potential trauma of missing key shots in a decisive playoff game at age 18 last spring. And when the sophomore returned for the fall semester, he reasserted his phenom image by becoming the best sixth man in the NBA, scoring 18 points a game in the first half of the season. But after the All-Star Game, also known as National Kobe Bryant Day, came The Slump. After a weekend of round-the-clock interviews in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of and nonstop Kobe hype, Bryant returned to the Lakers a worn-out prodigy. His shooting percentage dropped five points, his scoring average plummeted four points and his turnover rate shot up. Any other 19-year-old, and this would have gone unnoticed, but Bryant's woes were national news. He recovered nicely, averaging 16 points over the final seven games of the season, capped by a 25-point game in the finale against Utah last Sunday, his best production since the All-Star break. ``I knew I was gonna be a better basketball player,'' Bryant said. ``You're gonna go through a struggling period. That's just gonna happen.'' Just as he had to go through the struggles in the 1997 postseason, an experience Bryant says ``made me stronger-willed, that if I did get into a similar situation, I really want to come through.'' The similar situation came Friday. The seasoned Bryant, his past serving as his ally, delivered. Which makes the clutch performance and the win all the more gratifying grat·i·fy tr.v. grat·i·fied, grat·i·fy·ing, grat·i·fies 1. To please or satisfy: His achievement gratified his father. See Synonyms at please. 2. . ``Yeah, a little bit,'' Bryant admits, but notes, ``the reason why I wanted to go out there and play a good fourth quarter was because I wanted to win the basketball game.'' ``After the buzzer went off and we had a two-point lead, I'm like, `Good job, man,' '' he said, jokingly reaching over his shoulder to pat himself on the back. `` `Now you can sleep tonight.' '' CAPTION(S): Photo, Box Photo: The Lakers' Nick Van Exel Nickey (Nick) Maxwell Van Exel (born November 27 1971 in Kenosha, Wisconsin) is a retired American professional basketball player in the NBA. Van Exel, a 6'1" left-handed point guard, was most well known for his flashy style of play and his ability to hit critical shots during tries to sidestep side·step v. side·stepped, side·step·ping, side·steps v.intr. 1. To step aside: sidestepped to make way for the runner. 2. a slam by Portland's Rasheed Wallace in Game 1. Tom Mendoza/Daily News Box: LAKERS vs. PORTLAND |
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