Lakers Quotes 2/4/99
goka...@scu.edu
due to sore feet and ankles, caused when he
switched models of athletic insoles. He said
that he's getting different insoles and plans to
return for Friday's season opener. Horry missed
the practice due to an upper respiratory
infection and is listed as day to day.
RPE says that Fisher has been named the third
captain of the team, joining Shaq and Harper.
Garret
---
About the ferocity of their camp workouts, West:
"You know, the players know there's an urgency.
That's not something they don't know." (LAT)
Asked if he was interested in signing Rodman, West:
"You always consider all options. No doubt Dennis
Rodman still can play. When he's on the court, he's
a tremendous competitor and a very smart player who
understands the game. But there are a lot of things
to consider." (LBPT)
"To really say there's any substance to it . . .
it's bandied about in the office. But we have no
idea if there will even be any interest on his
part to start with." (LBPT)
Note: Orlando, Houston, and Miami seem to have
backed away from Rodman. Houston signed 7-foot,
290-pound Stanley Roberts instead. With Houston
removed from the Rodman hunt, I keep my vote of
no on the Lakers signing Rodman.
If Rodman was interested in the Lakers, West:
"Then we would explore that possibility." (OCR)
"He does bring some great basketball ingredients.
He's one of the smartest basketball players around.
His teams win championships. He plays with energy
and enthusiasm." (OCR)
About how Buss is supporting Rodman, West said:
"Dennis has spoken with Jerry Buss. I think they
went out to dinner together. I've talked to Jerry
about him, and he's always liked Dennis
personally." (OCR)
About all of the media attention on this, West:
"We've had no discussions with him. All this is
doing is filling space in the newspaper and
creating publicity and controversy, which I'm
sure Dennis loves." (OCR)
Liking his team the way that it is, West said:
"I think we definitely have a championship caliber
team. Remember, we're coming off an injury-plagued
season in which we still won 61 games. All our
young players are a year older. We think the
additions of Derek Harper and Travis Knight have
added toughness and competitiveness to the team.
I'd have to say that Shaquille O'Neal is definitely
the most dominant player in the league. I like the
way Derek Fisher has been playing at point guard.
And Kobe Bryant is tremendously improved. He's put
on some weight, and is a lot stronger. He's very
good right now, and he's just 20 years old. I like
our team the way it is. We're still getting some
attractive offers for some of our players, but we
aren't in a hurry to make a deal. Why should we be?
The team like it is pretty good. We're only going
to make a deal if it's going to make us better." (LBPT)
About how other GMs may be intimidated by him, West:
"It's been tough for me to deal with teams these
days." (LBPT)
About how some teams acted hastily this year, West:
"The biggest problem with this short season and the
sudden start of it is that some teams have rushed
too quickly to make deals with free agents. I think
some of the decisions have been emotional. I think
later some people are going to look back and say,
'What have we done here?' " (LBPT)
Informed that Utah GM Scott Layden was on the line,
West said:
"I'll take it." (LBPT)
After hanging up with Layden, West said:
"The Jazz are going to be very good again - they're
a very deep team." (LBPT)
About how this season will be unusual, West said:
"We're going into uncharted waters. This is going
to be a very intense, game-filled season. The
players will have nothing else to think about but
basketball because that's all they'll be doing.
There's not going to be enough time for controver-
sies because we'll always be playing games." (LBPT)
Very optimistic about the season, West said:
"I'm very optimistic about this season. We've had
nothing but great practices, which is something I
couldn't say a year ago. If we stay healthy,
we'll be good. Remember, when we were healthy a
year ago, we were very good." (LBPT)
West added:
"No matter what, this is going to be an interesting,
challenging season." (LBPT)
Asked if they are the heirs to the Bulls crown, Del:
"But Chicago hasn't been our problem. We've never
gotten to play Chicago." (LAT)
About thinking of the team first, Del said:
"Unless we can get to where the most important thing
is the team and what we do together, then we won't
make it. I mean, how many times does some
championship team have to teach that lesson to the
also-ran teams? It's just so fundamental to winning
a championship. As a coach you're just trying to do
everything you can to keep everybody thinking 'team'
first. Whatever that entails, that will be my job,
to try to keep our team focused on this grand purpose,
which is to win this championship, as opposed to
having seven guys on the All-Star team or having
certain guys leading statistical categories." (LAT)
About their improved attitude in practice, Del said:
"It's been the best attitude among our practices
here the five years I've been in Los Angeles for
sure." (LBPT, LADN)
When asked about Rodman, Del noted that he also
has a tattoo:
"I'm probably the only coach who has one. But I
love the guys who are here now. If the team
changes, then I'll learn to love that, too." (OCR)
About how they will be ready for Houston, Del:
"The director of the play would always like to
have a few more dress rehearsals. But we're going
to be as prepared as anybody." (OCR)
About how talent is overrated, Del said:
"The most overrated word in sports is talent.
Talent combined with tremendous work ethic and
purposeful spirit is what makes for championships.
To win championships, you have to have talent. But
then that's just step one. After that, you have to
be willing to commit to do the intangibles that
provide championships. Because in sports and in
life, it's not always who's the most talented who
finishes first. It's the people with the talent
who are able to apply all the details and
techniques and pay the sacrifices to beat people
who have more talent." (RPE)
Defending players with spotty reputations, Shaq:
"I like the league the way it is right now, where
not everybody is a bunch of goody two-shoes. I like
that we have a few knuckleheads who do their own
thing. That keeps the league exciting. People have
to understand that 'NBA' stands for Nothing But
Actors. It's all a show." (OCR)
About how they are the team of the future, Kobe:
"Oh yeah, I think we're the team of the future. I
think what we have now can win it this year. But
we're nowhere near set. We don't have all the
pieces of the puzzle here, if you're talking about
a team winning six or seven championships. It's
not in place yet." (LAT)
About how maturity results in execution, Kobe:
"The thing that beat us last season was execution.
People are talking about the mindset of the team,
the maturity of the team. The fact of the matter
is veteran teams execute (plays). They focus on
execution, they pay attention to detail. Us as a
young team, we haven't done that. That's why we've
been losing. Utah executed us right off the court.
That's what maturity means to me." (LBPT, LADN)
Asked if they have learned their lesson, Kobe:
"Until we get put in that situation, the playoff
situation, I don't know. Maybe against Utah in
the conference finals. Then you'll know." (LBPT,
LADN)
About what people say about Utah and them, Kobe:
"People say Utah is the best team in the league
and the Lakers have the most talent in the league.
But people still say we should win the title
because we have all this talent -- even though
they say Utah is a better team and doesn't have
as much talent. We can't worry about that. It's
up to us to use our talents to become the best
team we can become." (RPE)
About how they fell apart vs Utah last year, Fox:
"I felt almost a letdown in confidence, a letdown
in trust amongst each other on the floor to get
the job done. It's like a punch in the face. You
can either regroup and defend yourself and come
back with a better game plan or you just keep
taking beatings. We kept getting pushed on and
finally we kind of just sat in our own pity. And
that's the worst feeling." (LAT)
About how they have had time to reflect, Fox:
"It starts with us looking in the mirror, with
each of us, how accountable we are to ourselves,
and really asking ourselves the question, how
committed we are to working this out all the
way to the end. Because with that comes
sacrifices of individual honors and individual
games. That's a question a player will ask
himself at the beginning of the season or
doesn't. And if you've got a group of guys that
never ask that question to themselves, you've
got a problem." (LBPT, LADN)
Asked if Rodman would be a disruptive influence, Fox:
"If this were four years ago, it would be. But now
everybody is expecting Dennis to be Dennis. We all
know what he's about." (OCR)
About how Harper would be the good vet role model
and Rodman would be the other type of example, Fox:
"They would be yin and yang." (OCR)
Asked about them getting Rodman, Harper said:
"The question is how will Dennis conduct himself?
Only Dennis can answer that. I think the wildest
thing Dennis could do at this stage of his life
is act normal. If he came in here and conducted
himself like a saint, that would probably give
him the most publicity. I'd like to think the
past his behind him. Dennis got married over the
summer ... <Harper started laughing> Look, would
I like him as a teammate? I would, as long as he
doesn't dress in drag and sit next to me." (OCR)
About how they have think about practice, Harper:
"I think this team can be great if we find a way
not to look at practice and different situations
as punishment. You have to enjoy what you're doing.
Practice should make game situations easier. In
order to really stay focused as far as winning the
championship, I don't think that we can afford to
become flip. You have to stay the course of what
you are trying to accomplish. These guys have
longer than I have. I'm taking it serious all the
time." (RPE)
Seeing parallels between them and the Bulls, Fisher:
"I see a lot of similarities because within their
team struggle, there were some individual struggles.
Michael was going through the process of becoming
more of a team player, still scoring 30 points but
finding ways to get other people involved. They
went through the trade with Charles Oakley [for]
Bill Cartwright, where Michael didn't think that
was a very good trade. . . . Then he found out
later that Cartwright was kind of the missing
piece they needed. . . .Scottie growing and
becoming more experienced and learning how to deal
with adverse situations and playing against
physical teams like Detroit. I see a lot of
similarities in that. You can't just wake up in
the morning and be NBA champions." (LAT)
About the articles calling them immature, Fisher:
"You know, we read and we listen. We know how
certain people feel about us. And not only are
we tired of it ourselves, but I think it's a
natural human reaction to want to prove other
people wrong. I think that's where we are right
now. Sometimes that's what it takes." (LBPT, LADN)
About having to play better as a team, Fisher:
"We have all this talent, all these people that
can do so many things, but we have to make
ourselves better as a team. We have to play the
game like we want it. We don't set screens for
each other. We don't box out on defense. We
don't execute what Del tells us. Yeah, we win a
lot because we have the talent. But that talent
hasn't gotten us past Utah and we haven't got a
ring." (RPE)
About how his evaluation of the team changes
regularly, Fisher said:
"It changes from day to day.' Some days I feel
we can't be beat. Some days I feel like we have
a long ways to go. I always feel that we're
capable of being the best team in basketball.
But sometimes I don't feel it in the guys.
You can't expect it to be there all the time,
though. But nine times out of 10, we have to
be out on the court with a sense of urgency.
Nothing should be more important than coming
to practice and making that the most important
thing. Yeah, we have all this talent, but we
have to do something with it -- and that's
winning a championship." (RPE)
---
Assistant Professor, Santa Clara University
http://www.ee.scu.edu/eefac/okamoto
Shameless plug: http://www.wkap.nl/book.htm/0-7923-8335-4
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