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Now_Im_Not_Banned:
Walton says Lakers can reach finals
ROSS SILER, Staff writer
Article Last Updated:10/08/2006 11:17:45 PM PDT
EL SEGUNDO - With the departure of Devean George this summer, Luke Walton is now one of only three holdovers from the Lakers team that lost to Detroit in the 2004 NBA Finals, along with Kobe Bryant and Brian Cook.
Every time Walton has come to training camp, in addition, the Lakers have had a different look from the season before.
He was a rookie on the Finals team with four probable future Hall of Famers and thought, I was going to win a championship just walking in the gym.
The draft-lottery season after the Shaquille O Neal trade came next, followed by the return of Phil Jackson as coach and an agonizing seven-game loss to Phoenix in the first round of the playoffs last spring.
The Lakers have not broadcast their expectations this season — Kwame Brown said it would be a letdown not to reach the second round — but Walton thinks the Lakers have as good a chance of advancing to the NBA Finals as any Western Conference team.
We feel like we re at that level, Walton said. We don t feel like there s a team out there that s just better than us.
The only proof Walton needed came after watching Phoenix lose to Dallas in six games in the conference finals. The Lakers also will bring back 11 players from last season s team, which learned to play together in the triangle offense.
As a team and a unit, you have a lot more confidence in each other, Walton said. As opposed to last year when so many times the whole season, we were losing close games because we didn t really have that confidence about us.
For his part, Walton is hoping to get through October healthy, as opposed to the past twoyears.
He is wearing compression leggings on the court to keep his hamstrings warm through all the stopping and standing of camp. Walton suffered a strained hamstring in the exhibition opener last season and went on to miss 11 regular-season games.
My body feels better this training camp than it has since I ve been in the league, said Walton, who averaged a career- best 19.3minutes last season.
His role also has yet to be defined. Walton moved into the starting lineup at the end of last season but the Lakers signed free-agent forward Vladimir Radmanovic in July, likely sending Walton back to the bench.
With the way our team is set up, Walton said, we have so many different versatile players that I m sure we re going to use different starting lineups.
Now_Im_Not_Banned:
Luke Walton expects Lakers to make NBA Finals-
The swingman says last year's playoff collapse was a learning experience.
By KEVIN DING
The Orange County Register
EL SEGUNDO - Luke Walton has been on a team that made the NBA Finals. And he sees these Lakers as good enough to be there again - this season.
"I expect to be in the (NBA) Finals this year," Walton said Saturday. "We could've done it last year. We had a young team that had never really been there together. I think you really grow a lot from what we went through - losing the 3-1 (lead) to a great team like Phoenix in the playoffs."
Walton said the vibe in training camp is "definitely the best feeling" since his rookie season, when the 2003-'04 Lakers reached the NBA Finals on the star power of Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone, Shaquille O'Neal and Gary Payton.
What Walton likes in the current Lakers is a growing communal spirit that feels special, one that wasn't quite established last season.
"There were so many times through the whole season where we were losing close games because we really didn't have that confidence about us," Walton said. "We had it about Kobe, but not about us as a team."
Walton foresees the Lakers winning more of the close games they lost last season and positioning themselves to make better postseason use of Bryant.
"The thing about basketball, when you get to the playoffs, every game comes down to the very end," Walton said. "We've got the best clutch player in the game on our team. So we feel as long as we play like a team and hopefully get a better seed than seventh and have home-court advantage, then we can win that and move on. And we match up pretty well against a lot of teams in the Western Conference."
The Lakers were already competitive with most of the league's top teams last season, bolstering Walton's faith.
"If you look at last year, we had a great chance at knocking off Phoenix," Walton said. "Granted, we didn't take care of business, but they (the Suns) went all the way to the Western Conference finals and lost to Dallas. And Dallas had a great chance at winning the NBA Finals, so we feel like we're at that level. We don't feel like there's a team out there that's just better than us."
Now_Im_Not_Banned:
Brian Shaw Singles Out Players
How laid-back were things Sunday in Lakerland? Assistant coach Kurt Rambis got tired of waiting after about 30 seconds of us interviewing Luke Walton and left to take a shower and go home. So assistant Brian Shaw came out, took a couple of good-natured digs at Rambis, and answered our questions.
Lakers assistant coach Brian Shaw cited Kwame Brown, Luke Walton, JR Pinnock, Jordan Farmar and Brian Cook as most impressive in the team's extensive scrimmages Saturday night. Brown converted his opportunities in the post and Pinnock showed his athleticism. "(Farmar's) team was kind of stacked against him," Shaw said, "but he held his own and he did well." Shaw served as Kwame Brown's primary confidant last season, and going into this season, Shaw said he's telling Brown: "Keep riding that wave of confidence."
Shaw said things have been a little different not having Phil Jackson around.
"Every coach that's on that staff has an opinion,'' Shaw said. "That's what Phil likes. When he's here, as a head coach you don't want all your assistants to be on the same page. You want them to debate and argue. You take all that information into consideration, but then you say, `This is how we're going to do it' and we follow suit.''
Shaw said the first 1 1-2 days of training camp were a little less organized than usual but the staff has adjusted quickly. Jackson and Rambis are talking daily.
On a completely different note, Sasha Vujacic and Vladimir Radmanovic have taken to pairing off when they shoot after practice. It looks like Vujacic, who was mentored by Vlade Divac during his rookie season, has welcomed the addition of a new Vlade to the team.
Small forward Maurice Evans on the triangle offense: "People don't realize the complexity of this offense. Guys like Kobe and (Michael) Jordan make it look so easy. Even guys like Rick Fox grew into the position and did so well that you kind of take it for granted how much you have to learn."
Now_Im_Not_Banned:
Farmar is working on jump shot
BY ROSS SILER, Staff Writer
Article Last Updated:10/07/2006 11:15:48 PM PDT
EL SEGUNDO - After all his teammates had left for the afternoon, Lakers rookie guard Jordan Farmar (Taft of Woodland Hills) stayed on the practice court Saturday taking onejumper after another.
Those extra 15 minutes of work were a sure sign of Farmar's determination. Even though he had to be back for a scrimmage in only five hours, Farmar would not leave the gym without feeling good about his shot.
Only six months after leading UCLA to the NCAA championship game, Farmar is starting over as a 19-year-old in the NBA. He played beyond his years on the Lakers' summer-league team but knows nothing is guaranteed as a rookie.
With three other ball-handling guards on the roster - Smush Parker, Sasha Vujacic and Shammond Williams - Farmar might get his minutes in the NBA Development League this season.
But he might also be able to challenge for a role, especially if he can knock down his jumper with consistency. Farmar summed up his expectations for the season as "just to be productive, whatever they need me for.
"If I'm going to play, I want to contribute as much as I can. I definitely want to play, I want to be out here and compete and make the guys ahead of me better so that we can improve as a team."
Farmar said he struggled a little with his shot in the firstweek of training camp.
The Lakers have worked with Farmar to change how he shoots. Farmar has a tendency to lean back slightly, which leaves his jumper coming up short. Now he is making a point of going up straight or leaning forward when he shoots.
Sure-handed: After a season of watching center Kwame Brown sometimes fumble away passes out of bounds, assistant coach Kurt Rambis' comment Saturday came almost as a revelation.
"To be honest with you, I don't think that I've noticed him dropping the ball in this training camp," Rambis said.
His biggest challenge comes not only in catching the ball, but in slowing down once he has it.
"You can think about the spot that you're supposed to be at all day long," Brown said, "and then you can't do nothing without the rock."
wcsoldier:
First game against Utah today... :rock:
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