ONE WIN NOT ENOUGH TO BE SATISFIED.Byline: STEVE DILBECK 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 , Calif. -- Easy now guys. Don't get too pleased with yourselves. Don't go thinking you've accomplished something here. Hey, Lakers See Lake poets , you've won one game. A very well played game. A hard fought and deserved playoff victory on the road in Phoenix. Congratulations. It's just that it takes four of those to advance, and dare we even mention, 15 more for that shining gold ball. With youth, with collective and individual playoff inexperience, there can be a tendency in these situations to get a tad too happy. To start believing you've actually got this playoff thing down. It's not exactly that the Lakers should fear and odd overconfidence o·ver·con·fi·dent adj. Excessively confident; presumptuous. o  ver·con as losing their edge. Sometimes young teams can forget
how hard they had to work to win. They're just get so excited.
``It's just a natural reaction,'' said 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. . ``People are going to relax a little bit behind a first win. You just think you've got things solved, and you certainly don't. ``You've got to stay on it and on top of it. The Suns were within a basket (Wednesday) of making that game a heartbreak instead of a joy.'' Game 3 is at home tonight, but understand this right now: Winning will be more difficult. It only gets harder from here. These are uncharted playoff waters for almost everyone on the Lakers save 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. . The Lakers cannot afford to let up, afford to take a single thing for granted. Because rest assured, the Suns will be a more determined bunch tonight. They were taken out of their game on their home floor in Game 2. They were almost embarrassed at their first-half performance. They're going to be ticked. ``As a young team we have to understand that they're going to come back with a vengeance,'' Kobe said. ``And we have to make sure we're ready for that.'' The Lakers did a lot of things right Wednesday. They went to the hoop and tried to stay away from the long jumpers, that when missed, can feed the Phoenix fastbreak. They moved the basketball, took advantage of mismatches, controlled the tempo, and most importantly Adv. 1. most importantly - above and beyond all other consideration; "above all, you must be independent" above all, most especially , turned up the defensive intensity. But the Suns also missed their share of open jumpers. The Lakers cannot count on the Suns shooting .343 percent from the field (12 of 35) in the first half again. Expect Shawn Marion Shawn Dwayne Marion (born May 7, 1978 in Waukegan, Illinois) is an American professional basketball player. He currently plays small forward for the Phoenix Suns of the NBA, although he spent much of the 2004-05, 2005-06 and the 2006-07 seasons at power forward. , despite the dramatically improved play of 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. , to again hit on five of 15 field goals. As soon as the Lakers starting thinking they've got these playoffs wired, they're Phoenix lunch meat. They cannot afford to let up. Cannot afford to play without a hint of desperation in their game. ``We can't relax,'' said center Kwame Brown. ``Kobe emphasized today that they're going to come back 10 times harder on our home floor, since we stole one. It was `Don't relax. Don't get the big head. Just come ready (tonight).' '' The Lakers won Wednesday because they shot better and played harder than the Suns. They can't count on shooting better. They can count on the Suns and 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. being even more determined to get that high-octane offense untracked. ``We have to understand they're going to come out and really push the ball and try to generate that energy and get us playing their pace of game,'' Jackson said. Saying you understand it is one thing. Actually guarding against the slightest of subconscious letdowns is something else. It's the job of Kobe and Jackson to make sure the Lakers come out even more determined, that they avoid any afterglow afterglow small amounts of light emitted by a phosphor after the stimulating radiation has ceased. Seen in x-ray intensifying screens and fluoroscopic screens. from Game 2 like Botox in some aging Hollywood starlet's overripe o·ver·ripe adj. 1. Too ripe. 2. Marked by decay or decline. o ver·ripe lips.
``(The Suns) are going to step it up a level,'' Kobe said. ``I think that's where our youth will grow up quickly. ``Once you get a win, now that team is going to come back at your hard. Now we have to be ready to raise our level and meet that intensity.'' If the Lakers can bring the same game tonight that they surprised the Suns with in Game 2 -- moving the ball inside, Kobe playing under control but more aggressive, hitting the boards, sharing the ball -- and win, they could really be onto something. The Suns' disappointment could begin to create serious self-doubt. ``For us to be a little bit tentative and indecisive in·de·ci·sive adj. 1. Prone to or characterized by indecision; irresolute: an indecisive manager. 2. Inconclusive: an indecisive contest; an indecisive battle. in the playoffs is frustrating,'' Nash said. ``Sometimes I try to get us going and sometimes Raja (Bell) tries to get us going, but it is really up to the individuals to leave it all out there.'' It's up to the Lakers to step it up. Being younger, their growth curve has more room to its zenith. They can continue to take significant leaps in playoff maturity. They just can't get the least bit satisfied along the way. CAPTION(S): photo, box Photo: Kwame Brown says the Lakers can't get complacent. Michael Owen
Box: LAKERS vs. PHOENIX |
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