MAGIC LACKING, BUT BRYANT AT THE CENTER.Byline: STEVE DILBECK All these superstars, all this excellence, melodrama melodrama [Gr.,=song-drama], originally a spoken text with musical background, as in Greek drama. The form was popular in the 18th cent., when its composers included Georg Benda, J. J. Rousseau, and W. A. Mozart, among others. , glitz glitz Informal n. Ostentatious showiness; flashiness: "a garish barrage of show-biz glitz" Peter G. Davis. tr.v. and intrigue, so much always going on with and around the Lakers See Lake poets , and funny how it still comes back to 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. . It's either what he's doing or what he isn't. The crime he committed or did not. The shots he's taking or the ones he's not. They could start an entire soap-opera digest on him and fill it monthly. Kobe had what you might call an interesting first half in the Lakers' ugly playoff opener Saturday night, if not an interesting entire game. His numbers might sound a tad familiar. Kobe played almost the entire first half before taking an official shot. The first one he took was late in the half to beat the 24-second clock. His only shot of the half. Flashbacks to Sacramento? Whispers in the locker room? Concerns Kobe was trying to make a point at the expense of the team? Nope. Different game, different results, different reaction. Kobe was again being consistently double-teamed, which happens about as frequently as the ball bouncing, and again looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. open teammates. Yet unlike in Sacramento, teammates hit open jumpers. Unlike in Sacramento, there was never a time when Kobe almost appeared to pass up a shot. And he hit that first shot and his team led at the half. So Kobe went in the locker room at intermission with a nice little overall game: five points, five assists, four steals, three rebounds and the belief of everyone in America he would not take only one shot in the second half. In the first half he got others involved, and surprise, it was OK. ``He was doing a little bit of everything out there tonight,'' 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. said. ``There must have been more opportunities in the first half, but he was a passer and a lot of things worked well because of that.'' Kobe, naturally, tried to get untracked in the second half. He never really could, though. Maybe his shooting rhythm was thrown off by his first half, maybe Houston's defense deserved enormous credit, maybe sometimes you just can't count on the magic. Those 3-pointers that actually caused jaws to drop in the Lakers' final regular-season game against Portland, that left the locker room giddy and the team bright-eyed for the postseason, had trouble finding net Saturday. Kobe tried to find his game, and with most of his teammates struggling, everyone seemed to look to him, waiting for him to take over. After he hit his only 3-pointer of the night in the third quarter - accounting for a third of his team's offense in the period - the crowd began to chant his name. ``In the second half, I think the encouragement of the crowd helped him get going or started in the offensive way because everyone else seemed impotent im·po·tent adj. 1. Incapable of sexual intercourse, often because of an inability to achieve or sustain an erection. 2. Sterile. Used of males. out there,'' Jackson said. ``The crowd started encouraging him.'' Somebody needed to do something. Karl Malone tr.v. dis·lo·cat·ed, dis·lo·cat·ing, dis·lo·cates 1. To put out of usual or proper place, position, or relationship. 2. thumb, missed all three of his shots and played only 20 minutes. Kobe tried to make up the difference, but of his 18 shots in the second half, only three hit. Kobe, not talking to Noun 1. talking to - a lengthy rebuke; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to" lecture, speech rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to the media for the sixth consecutive day, did not make himself available to share his thoughts on his play or the game. But the Rockets plainly were keying on him and Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal (pronounced "shak-KEEL") (born March 6, 1972 in Newark, New Jersey), frequently referred to simply as Shaq, is an American professional basketball player, generally regarded as one of the most dominant in the National Basketball Association (NBA). , both consistently double-teamed. The Rockets forced Kobe to shoot mostly long-range jumpers, and always contested. ``He can make some of those shots he missed, but I don't think those are the types of shots he wants to have to consistently try and take,'' Derek Fisher Derek Lamar Fisher (born August 9 1974 in Little Rock, Arkansas) is an American professional basketball player with the Los Angeles Lakers. He was with the Utah Jazz but asked to be released from his contract to care for his 10-month-old daughter, who has cancer. said. ``He'll be able to get better shots where he can catch the ball and be squared up and get a really solid look, as opposed to having to pump-fake and guys flying by and having to lean in. As talented as he is, it's tough to be consistent doing that.'' With Kobe struggling to find his shot, and the Lakers being outplayed almost all over the floor, the Rockets battled their way into the lead. There were 12 lead changes and seven ties. Houston led 71-70 in the final minute, when Kobe tried to find room for the go-ahead shot. He let loose ... an airball. Shaq, however, took the rebound and slammed in a monster dunk. The Lakers survived a nervous last-second shot by Jim Jackson and had a 1-0 lead in the opening-round series. Not every night would bring magic, not every win would be pretty. |
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