RICE BURNED ABOUT TEAM ROLE.Byline: Howard Beck Daily News Staff Writer Glen Rice Glen Anthony Rice (born May 28 1967, in Flint where he played for Flint Northwestern High School, Michigan) is a retired American NBA basketball player. Rice was a three-time NBA All-Star small forward well known for his pinpoint shooting accuracy, ranking 4th in NBA history with arrived in March, presumably pre·sum·a·ble adj. That can be presumed or taken for granted; reasonable as a supposition: presumable causes of the disaster. as the missing piece to the Lakers' championship dreams. But as the regular season winds down, the sharpshooter admits he's frustrated with his role in the offense and ambivalent about his future with this team. In an interview Saturday, Rice said the Lakers See Lake poets have failed to maximize his skills, and it's showing in his performance. His 42.2 percent field-goal mark is the lowest of a 10-year career in which he's averaged 46.3 percent. A career 40.9 percent shooter from 3-point range, he's hitting just 36.4 percent this year, worst since his rookie season. Playing a secondary role for the first time in his career, Rice said he still doesn't feel like a vital part of the offense. ``Not really,'' he said. ``I feel that when you have a player like myself, you got to be willing to set more screens, get me involved in the offense more than what I have been. I'm not just a spot-up shooter. I got a lot of other things to my game - post-up, coming off screens, penetration dribble - and I want to use all those things to help this team. And thus far I haven't had too many opportunities to do that. So it is frustrating.'' It also shouldn't be too surprising, and perhaps that's why Rice was initially hesitant to be traded to the Lakers from Charlotte. Accustomed to being the go-to guy, Rice is trying to fit into an offense where 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). and 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. combine for 34 shots a game. ``Obviously, I haven't adjusted to it as well as I wanted to. This definitely thus far is not the type of basketball that Glen Rice is capable of playing,'' Rice said. ``I try and go out there and I try and stay focused. I feel that we definitely got to be able to use me a lot more than we have been. ``I haven't shot like this in quite awhile, and it's something that I'm not This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please help Wikipedia by adding references. See the for details. This article has been tagged since October 2007. proud of. It's something that I think about every day. I just think that if I'm in the flow of the offense a little better, the (shooting) percentage definitely will be higher than what it is.'' Several weeks ago, coach Kurt Rambis Darrell Kurt Rambis (born February 25, 1958 in Cupertino, California) is an American former professional basketball player and current assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers. indicated the Lakers had tweaked See tweak. the offense to provide more opportunities for Rice to shoot off of screens, as he prefers. But asked about those changes, Rice shook his head. ``You see it every now and then, and it's not as much as I would like it to be,'' Rice said. ``It just has to do with the play-calling.'' Rice might accept the third-fiddle role and diminished stats if the Lakers were winning, but they're 13-13 since his arrival. ``No, I'm not OK. No way in the world that I'm OK with the way things have gone to this point,'' he said. ``I could be somewhat a little more satisfied (with a lesser role) if we were playing up to our capabilities and we were winning a lot more. But that hasn't happened, so no, I'm not OK with it. It's a very, very bad combination.'' The Lakers hold a $7.1 million option on Rice for next season, but had planned to sign him to a long-term extension; or they could let him walk as a free agent. Does Rice's experience so far make him hesitant to stay? He laughed, then said, ``I tell you what, I'll hold onto that comment.'' LAKERS vs. SEATTLE Time: 12:30 p.m., at KeyArena TV/Radio: Channel 4; KLAC-AM (570). Lakers (28-19) update: In NBA NBA abbr. 1. National Basketball Association 2. National Boxing Association NBA (US) n abbr (= National Basketball Association) → Basketball-Dachverband (= shortened-season terms, the Lakers have had plenty of time to savor its 108-89 thrashing thrashing: see threshing. Excessive paging in a virtual memory computer. If programs are not written to run in a virtual memory environment, the operating system may spend excessive amounts of time swapping program pages in and out of the disk. of Pacific Division champ Portland on Thursday, a game some believe signals the team is turning things around in time for the playoffs. On Friday, the Lakers watched first-round opponent Houston lose to Utah, tying the two for the fourth spot in the Western Conference and tightening the race for home-court advantage in their playoff series. Seattle (23-24) update: The SuperSonics su·per·son·ics n. (used with a sing. verb) The study of phenomena produced by the motion of a body through a medium at velocities greater than that of sound. are still on the outside looking in for the postseason, a game behind Sacramento with Dallas and the Clippers to play after hosting the Lakers. They haven't exactly made a playoff push, losing five of their last 10 games. They did beat Denver 111-101 on Friday at home. CAPTION(S): Photo, Box PHOTO RICE BOX: LAKERS vs. SEATTLE (see text) |
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