Interview with Laker guard Maurice Evans about the Lakers, Kobe, KG etc...

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Talking with Maurice Evans

Andrew Kamenetzky:  Moving a little more into basketball, I know there are going to be a lot of Laker fans disappointed that you couldn't parlay your friendship with Kevin Garnett into him wearing purple and gold.  Have you talked to him since the trade (Note: his interview originally took place on Aug. 3, so the two may have spoken by now).

Maurice Evans:  No, I haven't talked to Kev. I haven't gotten a chance to congratulate him on his signing with Boston.  I'm sure I'm gonna see him at some point.  He has a home in L.A. and Malibu.  But I'm happy for him.

AK: Is it pretty crazy for you to imagine him in green?

ME:  Yeah.  Obviously, with him being a Timberwolf for so long, I think everybody's going to have to ease into seeing him in green and white.  But they've done a total makeover.  Ray Allen added.  KG.  And having a great player in Paul Pierce.

AK: The rumor mill was going pretty crazy with proposals bringing him to L.A. and the Laker front office pursued him aggressively.  When you hear that talk, do your own hopes go up or do you just wait to see how it plays out?

ME: Well, there's so much that goes into it that you never want to get (caught up).  I've learned for myself that things can change so much in the NBA on a day to day basis that you don't want to get your hopes up for things like that.  But it was hard not to get emotional when one of my really good friends is involved in talks and knowing that a guy like that could really make an impact in leadership and the skills that he would bring to the table.  I was kind of looking forward to that, because being such a young team.  It would have been welcomed a great deal.

AK: So I imagine that you share some of the Laker fans' disappointment?

ME: Yeah, definitely.  I would have liked to have played with him and he could have helped our team.  But that's the reality of playing in that situation.  You just have to deal with whatever you have to deal with.  I'll continue to work and improve upon my skills so that I can go out and accomplish the things that I want this year.   

AK: The offseason issues between the front office and Kobe got a lot of attention for obvious reasons.  Is it hard as a teammate not to get caught up in what you're reading or hearing?

ME: I think you learn playing in a place like L.A. that you don't want to get caught up in that, because again, we're gonna have to deal with whatever team is there come October.  We're gonna have to go in there and not let it affect the way do your job, anyway.  But it's hard to kind of not know who you're going to be involved with and what kind of team we're going to have.  Whether it's gonna be, is Kobe gonna be there or be traded?  Are you going to be traded with him? 

AK: Have you talked to Kobe since everything came up?

ME: No, I haven't.  I haven't talked to him since the season ended.

AK: Did you imagine or have any inkling that something like this might be coming or did it take you by surprise?

ME: I kind of took me by surprise.  I didn't ever expect for him to, you know, for him to possibly be traded.  I expected maybe for someone to possibly get brought in, kinda like KG, like we had talked about.

AK: Do you feel like come October, enough time will have passed that everyone can move forward and let the past be the past?

ME: Well, the thing is about a great player like Kobe Bryant, regardless of the things he says or does, his skill level is so high that he's still going to go out and be highly productive.  No one's really going to remember some of things he said or did in the offseason after he starts playing again.

AK: Does it bring any urgency for you as a teammate and an important part of the rotation to up your own game, in terms of trying to reassure his faith in the team?  Or is it one of things where you go about your business, do what you always did and let things play out?

ME: Well, I guess in that sense, you always want your teams to up your skill level and to me, it's an improvement.  That's what my focus has been.  I just continue to try to expand my role again, so hopefully that he'll have more faith in me, Coach Jackson will have more faith in me and I'll get even more of an opportunity to help our team out than last season.

AK: And as far as the moves that have been made this offseason, bringing back Derek Fisher...

ME: I was very excited about the acquisition of D.Fish, because he's a veteran player who knows how to play and I'm hoping that he can enhance our skills by being a guy who knows how to distribute the ball and help guys continue to be involved.  He can run a little bit.  Guys like myself can get out and get a lot more easy baskets in transition, maybe.  We have a lot of talented tools and a lot of weapons on this team and if we use them properly, Chris Mihm back healthy, Andrew (Bynum) getting another year's experience and better, myself getting better, I think we have a really good team.

AK: What specifically were you looking to work on over the summer, in terms of expanding your role and improving heading into the season?

ME: Now that I have a better understanding of the triangle offense, I know where my scoring opportunities will come from.  I know how to be a little more aggressive offensively.  I know I have to continue to pick up my level defensively, as maybe a guy who can defend several offensive players to take big stretches off of guys like Kob, so that he can be freer to be aggressive offensively.  Also, maybe even pushing the ball a little bit more off rebounds and maybe initiating the offense.  Creating opportunities that way as well.

AK: Along those lines, have you been working on your ball handling skills?

ME: Yeah, very much so.  That was something Coach told me in my exit meeting that they would like me to do a little bit more.  That's something I'm very much capable of, because I can use my athleticism and quickness to attack the rim even more so than what I did last year.

AK: If you're able to break guys off the dribble more, or at least make them respect that skill when they're trying to guard you?

ME: Exactly.  And obviously, the offense isn't one where it allows a lot of freedom to just be creating off the dribble like that without running into somebody already in a set position.  The triangle, everyone has a set position and they're actually predicated off of what another person does.  That's why I'm saying I know where opportunities come from.  I've watched a lot of tape.  And from being in the system for a year, I know where my opportunities are going to come from.  I know when I can be a little bit more aggressive and take advantage of those a little bit better.

AK: How's your knee?

ME: My knee is great.  I've gotten with some trainers and guys who've helped me out in the past, who've helped me condition.  I saw a guy who checked on my knee and he said everything was great.  I've been strengthening it and the swelling's gone.  I feel like my old self again.  It's great.  When I get into the gym, I can play above the rim and work on moves.  Just play again.

AK: It was pretty obviously hindering a lot of what you could do towards the end of last season.  

ME: Yeah, it did hinder me, but I was excited that I could was still able to be as effective as I was.  There were a few games where I was still able to really have some good games.  And there were some games, of course, where it hindered me and I wasn't able to do as much.   But I was just happy that I was still able to be effective, because I played pretty much the last two months with it like that.  Over my career, I've never really missed a lot of games, so if I could go into the season next year healthy, I'm looking forward to really having a good year.

AK: Can all the offseason "drama"- for lack of a better word- ever serve as a way of unifying a team?

ME: Definitely.  Obviously, it wasn't good the way things finished up with Smush (Parker), but he really did contribute a lot to the Lakers organization over the last couple years.  I'm sure he'll be happy to have that compensated a little bit for some of the things he did, now that he's going to Miami.  Now you have D.Fish coming here.  He's a veteran, a leader, he can bring some more experience.  Luke (Walton) has gotten his deal.  I was excited for him that he was able to get compensated and rewarded.  Now he can continue to be that much better of a player, because he'll be relaxed and not have to worry about contract issues for the next 5-6 years.  He can just go out and play.  I think that adds a lot.  There's a couple more players.  Cookie got his deal done (last season).  We got a lot of guys who are able to just play.  Go in, look to have a good year and get better as a team.  We had various issues, but we still got to the playoffs.  What we could do next year with a healthy team, everyone knowing their role and everyone playing, I think we're set up to be that much better of a team.

AK: When you mentioned a guy like Luke getting his contract, how much does that help players in general?  Not so much the actual money involved, but just the idea of stability, feeling like you have a place and that the team has enough confidence to invest in you?

ME: That makes all the difference in the world.  Now he has, exactly like you said, stability.  The organization is showing faith in a player, and not just in how much they're compensating him.  Obviously that matters, too, because it shows you how much they value you.  It's easier to go out and, in return, and give that much back to them.  Even more so.  He's gonna go out and play his heart and soul out for the next six years.  He can get rooted into the community.  He can get rooted into the Lakers organization for another six years.

AK: It basically removes that element of feeling like you're almost auditioning for your own team.

ME:  Exactly.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

I can see Mo having a peak year at 10-4-2-1.