April 18th: It's a Chance to Send a Message. Suns are in forecast. Bryant put the `V' in MVP.

 
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Phil
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 5:26 am    Post subject: April 18th: It's a Chance to Send a Message. Suns are in forecast. Bryant put the `V' in MVP.

Now It's a Chance to Send a Message
By Mike Bresnahan, Times Staff Writer
April 18, 2006

Kobe Bryant worked the scoreboard clock during a scrimmage, Lamar Odom and Kwame Brown wore whistles around their necks as they refereed their teammates, and the Lakers breezed through practice Monday, a day after clinching a playoff spot.

There's still work to be done, in determining whether they'll play Phoenix or San Antonio, but the Lakers took a step back to analyze their chances in the playoffs, even acknowledging that Phoenix seems more eager to play them rather than Sacramento in the first round.

Few basketball experts pegged the Lakers to play beyond April 19, but with at least four playoff games on the way, the Lakers are again turning to an us-against-the-world theme.

"I don't think there's too many people out there expecting us to do any damage really," Bryant said. "That's fine by us…. We felt like we had some good pieces all along. It was just a matter of us evolving and jelling together. We've been doing that as of late. We can still get better."


Last edited by Phil on Tue Apr 18, 2006 9:17 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Phil
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 5:29 am    Post subject:


Lakers notes: Suns are in forecast

BY ROSS SILER, Staff Writer

EL SEGUNDO - There is no telling how much Kobe Bryant will need to play in Wednesday's regular-season finale against the Hornets, but the superstar guard will head into the playoffs on a roll regardless.

Bryant is averaging 42.6 points on 50 percent shooting the past eight games and was selected Monday as Western Conference player of the week for the fifth time this season.

He needs 26 points to pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the eighth on the single-season scoring list and 35 points to pass Bob McAdoo for seventh. The only players with higher scoring seasons in NBA history are Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan.

Yet Lakers coach Phil Jackson does not want to rely on Bryant - and only Bryant - for scoring as the playoffs open this weekend.

"We have to know that Kobe's not going to be the guy that's going to carry us every game in the playoffs," Jackson said. "He may have a game or two in the playoffs where he's going to get a 40-point night.

"But he's going to have nights when they're going to just concentrate, whoever the team is, on just keeping him from scoring."
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Phil
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 5:31 am    Post subject:

Lakers move on to next phase

By AL BALDERAS
The Orange County Register

EL SEGUNDO – Clinching a playoff spot with a victory over the Phoenix Suns on Sunday was one goal realized by the Lakers. Now they move ahead to the next one.

The Lakers, who might play the Suns in the first round of the playoffs, will enter the postseason as an underdog.

The way Kobe Bryant sees it, that's nothing new.

"This whole season we've kind of been underdogs," he said. "Last season was a rough year and this year everybody kind of expected us to have the same kind of season we had last year. We've kind of been in that pocket for 81 games now.

"I don't think there are too many people out there expecting us to do any damage, and that's fine by us."
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Phil
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 5:32 am    Post subject:

It's a Qualified Success Story
Lakers clinch a playoff spot some didn't think they'd get, and finally beat Suns in the bargain, 109-89. Bryant scores 43; Nash doesn't play.
By Mike Bresnahan, Times Staff Writer
April 17, 2006

In one smooth, easy sweep, the Lakers deconstructed their failures of last season and some carry-over issues from this one, securing a playoff spot Sunday by finally beating the Phoenix Suns.

Eighty-one games into the season, they proved they belonged among the top eight in the Western Conference, managing to overcome numerous late-game meltdowns, a rash of injuries and, lastly, the Suns, whom they hadn't beaten in seven tries since Shaquille O'Neal left town.

Sun guard Steve Nash didn't play, but another MVP candidate did, Kobe Bryant scoring 43 points in the Lakers' 109-89 victory at Staples Center.

There was a communal exhale from Laker followers — their team hadn't missed the playoffs in consecutive seasons since 1975 and 1976 — yet also a sigh of satisfaction, the Lakers (44-37) winning for the 10th time in their last 13 games and continuing to play their best ball of the season.

On top of it, they beat the team they will probably play in the first round of the playoffs. If Sacramento loses Tuesday to Seattle or the Lakers win Wednesday against New Orleans, the Lakers, as the seventh-seeded team, would begin a best-of-seven series Saturday or Sunday in Phoenix. If the Lakers finish eighth, they would play either San Antonio or Dallas.
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Phil
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 9:17 pm    Post subject:

This year, Bryant put the `V' in MVP

Kobe Bryant is the best player in the NBA.

Bryant has elevated his game to another level this season, quite literally carrying the Lakers into the playoffs. Without Bryant, the Lakers right now would be considering whether they should draft Adam Morrison or Rudy Gay.

Instead the Lakers are wondering whether they match up better with the Suns or the Nuggets in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.

With that in mind, Kobe Bryant should also be the easy choice as the league's Most Valuable Player.

In all likelihood, however, he will not earn the award this season.

What should be an open-and-shut case, is instead considered a wide-open race.

So why won't Kobe be the choice? Well, probably because we media types - who vote for this award - like to overthink the word "valuable," thereby missing the implication of simply picking the most outstanding.

Since it's a lot easier to focus on Bryant's on-court positives (35 ppg, an unexpected playoff berth, a Bonds-esque respect from opponents during crunch time, that 81-point game), maybe it's best to focus on the supposed negatives against the "Bryant in 2006" campaign.
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