ANDERSON CUTS LOOSE OFFENSIVELY.Byline: Jon Wilner Daily News Staff Writer As a new man in town, Kenny Anderson Kenneth (Kenny) "Mr. Chibbs" Anderson (born October 9 1970 in Queens, New York) is a left-handed point guard who played more than a decade in the National Basketball Association. knows little of Portland's past postseason failures. But Wednesday night, he played as if he had endured every second of the Trail Blazers' four straight first-round exits. ``I've been holding back offensively, trying to get everyone in the flow,'' he said after Portland's 98-90 victory over the Lakers See Lake poets that prolonged this series at least two more days. ``I just went at it. I took control offensively and it paid off.'' Anderson, who scored 32 points in two games at the Forum, made his first seven shots and scored 17 points in the first quarter, staking the Blazers The Blazers (in some cases, short for Trail Blazers) is the name of several professional and collegiate sports teams:
``We squeezed (off his penetration) and took our chances that he'd hit his (outside) shots,'' Van Exel said. ``And he hit his shots.'' Anderson's success proved contagious contagious /con·ta·gious/ (-jus) capable of being transmitted from one individual to another, as a contagious disease; communicable. con·ta·gious adj. 1. Of or relating to contagion. , as the Blazers got the kind of scoring balance they lacked in Games 1 and 2. Rasheed Wallace Rasheed Abdul Wallace (born September 17, 1974, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association. He currently plays power forward for the Detroit Pistons. At 6 ft 11 in (213 cm) and 230 lb (104. chipped in 20 points. Clifford Robinson Clifford Robinson may refer to:
tr.v. ma·ligned, ma·lign·ing, ma·ligns To make evil, harmful, and often untrue statements about; speak evil of. adj. 1. Evil in disposition, nature, or intent. 2. all week for his poor effort in L.A., contributed 18. Isaiah Rider Isaiah Rider, Jr., sometimes known as J.R. Rider (born March 12, 1971 in Oakland, California) is an American former NBA basketball player, who played from 1993–2001. The 6'5" (1. added 12. For three quarters, the Blazers' domination was total. They rebounded relentlessly. They scored from the perimeter (4 of 8 3-pointers) when the Lakers double-teamed down low and attacked the basket when the Lakers defense was spread. They challenged each Lakers shot and played with the physical style they showed throughout the regular season. ``We did a really good job of bumping guys, bumping the cutters and not letting them be as free as they were in L.A.,'' Robinson said. Afterward, coach P.J. Carlesimo pronounced his team back. ``A lot of people seemed to want to write this team off,'' he said. ``It seems like after those losses in L.A., there's a lot of talk and a lot of people want to kick dirt on us. But I've said all year this team is resilient. It bounces back, and don't expect them to quit.'' Carlesimo spent Monday and Tuesday reminding the Blazers of their deficiencies in Games 1 and 2. They lacked aggressiveness. They didn't take advantage of the open shots created by the Lakers' double teams. And they couldn't stop the Lakers, who shot a combined 53.3 percent at the Forum. ``Free throws, 3-point shooting and rebounding were big factors in the regular season,'' Carlesimo said. ``Those were our big advantages and we have not reasserted those. A lot of it has to do with the confidence to step up and make the shot.'' The homecourt helped, too. The Rose Garden crowd was rowdy from the opening tip and the Blazers channeled its energy into the kind of inspired effort they lacked at the Forum. ``I attribute this to the crowd noise we got in the building,'' he said. ``Our fans were fantastic and I think it had a lot to do with with the jump start we got in the first quarter.'' |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion