Old Play Yields Some New Tricks
http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-lakerreport22nov22,1,7556581.story?coll=la-headlines-sports-nba-lakers
By Mike Bresnahan, Times Staff Writer
The Lakers, longtime victims of the pick-and-roll, have actually been reaping
benefits from the offensive set in recent games.
Where once there was Tony Parker and Tim Duncan sticking it to the Lakers with
a glut of pick-and-rolls, or, further back, John Stockton and Karl Malone, now
it is the Lakers who are converting, at least lately.
The Lakers prefer to move the ball upcourt in transition, but they have been
settling into pick-and-roll sets later in games, beginning last week against
the Clippers with Chucky Atkins and Brian Cook, and continuing since then with
Kobe Bryant and Cook, or Bryant and Lamar Odom.
"Rudy [Tomjanovich] is a coach who likes to control the tempo of the game,
especially in the fourth quarter with the dribble, and a good play to do that
is with the pick-and-roll," Atkins said. "We're trying to use everything we can
to our advantage. We have guys that can shoot the ball well from the outside."
Cook, a back-to-the-basket-style player while winning the Big Ten Conference
player of the year award at Illinois, has developed a soft touch on jump shots
in his second NBA season, giving Laker guards a steady outside option if lanes
are blocked after the initial screen.
"It opens up the floor for us," Tomjanovich said. "I consider us sort of a
driving, slashing type team. When you have a guy like [Cook] to keep people
honest on the outside, it really helps."
The Lakers have also played better defensively against pick-and-roll situations
. For all his strengths, one of Shaquille O'Neal's weaknesses was playing
against the pick-and-roll.
"Teams that usually gave us trouble in the past haven't given us trouble for
the simple fact that we're a better pick-and-roll defensive team," Bryant said.
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Forward Jumaine Jones, out since Nov. 10 because of a strained calf, took part
in warmups Sunday but said his conditioning was not good enough for him to be
reinserted into the lineup. "If I do play, I might go up one trip before I pass
out," he said.
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