LAKERS NOTEBOOK: TRIANGLE IS WORKING FOR BRYANT SO FAR.Byline: Ross Siler 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 - It might not have sounded like one at first, but Lakers coach Phil Jackson
Philip Douglas "Phil" Jackson (born September 17, 1945 in Deer Lodge, Montana) is the current coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, an American professional basketball team. was paying 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. a compliment after watching his superstar guard finish with a game-high 25 points in Sunday's exhibition victory against Charlotte. Why the confusion? Only because Jackson's job of teaching the triangle offense  This article or section may be confusing or unclear for some readers.Please [improve the article] or discuss this issue on the talk page. gets tougher by the day the more Bryant continues to shine in the preseason. ``He can become like a thumb that you need to suck when trouble's going on,'' Jackson said. ``You just stick it back in your mouth. We don't want to do that with Kobe.'' Even as the Lakers struggle with the triangle, Bryant has had one of the best exhibition seasons in the NBA NBA abbr. 1. National Basketball Association 2. National Boxing Association NBA (US) n abbr (= National Basketball Association) → Basketball-Dachverband (= . He has taken to his new position at wing and is averaging 22.3 points in only 29.2 minutes and shooting 52.1 percent overall. He hit 10 of 16 shots Sunday, all from inside of 17 feet. Bryant knocked down jumpers over Charlotte's Keith Bogans Keith Ramon Bogans (born May 12 1980 in Washington, D.C.) is a professional basketball player for the Orlando Magic in the National Basketball Association. High school and college , finished an alley-oop from Lamar Odom Lamar Joseph Odom (born November 6 1979, in South Jamaica, Queens, New York) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays power forward (also plays both forward spots and is a "point-forward") for the National Basketball Association's Los Angeles Lakers. , forced his way to the basket and drilled a tough turnaround on the fastbreak. Bryant then put the Lakers in front for good by connecting on a fadeaway fade·a·way n. 1. The act or an instance of gradually diminishing in brightness, loudness, or strength until actual disappearance occurs. 2. Baseball a. A screwball. b. jumper with 49.9 seconds left. And coming off a season in which he shot 43.3 percent - his worst since he was a teenager - Bryant has been locked in during the preseason. Take away the five questionable shots he missed at the end of last week's game in Bakersfield and Bryant would be shooting nearly 55 percent. If he was playing the 40 minutes a game he will in the regular season, Bryant would be averaging 30.6 points on 22 shots. --Kid games: Rookie center Andrew Bynum Andrew Bynum (born October 27 1987, in Plainsboro, New Jersey) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association. Bynum is listed as 7'0" and 285 lbs and plays center. returned to practice Monday, with the Lakers hopeful he can play in an exhibition game this week. Jackson said Bynum could play as early as tonight against Utah in Anaheim if he feels comfortable. A more likely scenario would have Bynum make his NBA debut Friday against Sacramento in Las Vegas. Bynum, who missed 16 days with an abdominal injury, said he was up to speed with the triangle basics but not some of the set plays Jackson has added. --In the plans: Guard Von Wafer, a second-round draft pick, has seen few minutes off the bench and didn't play at all Sunday. But Jackson's words Monday left little doubt that Wafer will make the team. ``He learned so much just coming to practice with these veterans every day,'' Jackson said, ``that there's a value to having him here in these competitive practices in a system that's ours that he will come back to play in.'' --Also: Devean George did not practice because of a sore left foot. ... Luke Walton ran Saturday on a treadmill for the first time since suffering a torn hamstring. ... The Lakers finished practice minus a net on one of their baskets. Brian Cook ripped it off on a dunk attempt. ... The NBA deadline for teams to finalize their rosters is at 3 p.m. Monday. Ross Siler, (818) 713-3610 ross.siler(at)dailynews.com |
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