LAKERS NOTEBOOK: MEETING SOME OLD FOES.Byline: RICH HAMMOND Rich Hammond Los Angeles Daily News sports writer. Instrumental in bringing the Los Angeles Kings hockey organization closer to the fans. He is the atypical "what a guy" to Kings fans everywhere. Rich Hammond on himself. Staff Writer EL SEGUNDO El Segundo (ĕl sēgŭn`dō), industrial city (1990 pop. 15,223), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1917. Its products include navigation and computer systems, aircraft parts, office machines, telephone apparatus, and -- The Lakers have spent the better part of the past five months trying to get the Phoenix Suns out of their minds. Now, the specter of their playoff meltdown is unavoidable. Starting with tonight's preseason game in Las Vegas Las Vegas (läs vā`gəs), city (1990 pop. 258,295), seat of Clark co., S Nev.; inc. 1911. It is the largest city in Nevada and the center of one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the United States. , the Lakers and Suns will face each other three times in the next 17days, the genesis of what should be an intense Pacific Division rivalry this season. Phoenix rallied from a 3-1deficit to win its first-round series against the Lakers last season. The Suns are again expected to be among the NBA's best teams, so the Lakers' path to the playoffs likely will go through Phoenix. The teams meet again next Sunday in San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. and open the season against each other Oct. 31. ``I think we all kind of carried (the playoff disappointment) with us,'' 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. said, ``as a learning tool and also as motivation to come back in the summer and work hard, come back next season and try to pick up the momentum that we had there late in the season.'' These Suns won't be entirely recognizable to the Lakers. Of the 14 players in training camp, five are new -- most notably guard Marcus Banks Arthur Lemarcus Banks III, commonly known as Marcus Banks (born November 19 1981 in Las Vegas, Nevada), is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Phoenix Suns of the NBA. Banks is 6'2" (188 cm) tall and 200 lb (90 kg). -- but the major contributors from last year's team, including MVP (Multimedia Video Processor) A high-speed DSP chip from Texas Instruments, introduced in 1994. Officially introduced as the TMS320C80, it combines RISC technology with the functionality of four DSPs on one chip. Steve Nash Steven John Nash, OBC (born February 7, 1974),[1] is a Canadian professional basketball player who plays point guard for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nash was brought up in a family of sportsmen and he excelled in a variety of sports. , return. For most of the Lakers, the sting of the offseason remains. Lamar Odom said he watched a tape of Game 7 shortly after the end of the series. Luke Walton said he can't bring himself to watch the game. ``Can't do it,'' Walton said. ``It's always in my head, but I've never gone back and actually watched the tape. ... That's behind us, but I think that series really helped us grow a lot. Even though we lost, I think it was a big positive for us in the big picture. ``Something happened, because we came out dead that game. We were missing shots, we weren't playing defense. They came out ready, and we didn't match the intensity.'' Mixed health results: The two hobbled Lakers of the most consequence, Kobe Bryant and Kwame Brown, took divergent paths in their recoveries Saturday. Bryant practiced with increased intensity, but Brown, who suffered a sprained right shoulder in Friday's practice, did not practice and said the pain is similar to the nagging shoulder injury he had last year. ``It's just that same little injury, a little bursitis bursitis (bərsī`təs), acute or chronic inflammation of a bursa, or fluid sac, located close to a joint. In response to irritation or injury the bursa may become inflamed, causing pain, restricting motion, and producing more fluid than can ,'' said Brown, who added that he hoped to play today. ``Hopefully I can protect it like I did last season. ... Every time I lift it over my head it pinches a little.'' In more encouraging news, Bryant received extra work Saturday in just his second practice since offseason knee surgery. Bryant will not play tonight. ``He looked good,'' assistant coach Kurt Rambis said, ``and it was good to hear, from yesterday's practice to today, that the knee didn't get worse. He stepped it up (in practice) a little more (Saturday) so we'll see how it feels (today).'' Von Wafer suffered a bruised right heel in Thursday's game and did not practice Saturday. rich.hammond@dailynews.com (818) 713-3611 CAPTION(S): photos, box Photo: (1 -- 2) The Lakers will be familiar with Steve Nash, left, while Suns newcomer Marcus Banks, right, jumps into the rivalry fray tonight. Catherine Steenkeste/Getty Images Box: LAKERS vs. PHOENIX |
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