Rockets vs Lakers According to the LA Times

http://www.latimes.com/sports/baske...ct31,0,2476973,full.story?coll=la-home-center

Boos come early for Lakers' Bryant in 95-93 loss to Rockets
Bryant hears it from the home crowd at start, but cheers soon come and he finishes with 45 points in loss. Late run can't erase Rockets' effort.
By Mike Bresnahan
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

October 31, 2007

It was a game of firsts, some of them infinitely more surprising than others.

That the Lakers lost their first game of the season to the Houston Rockets, 95-93, wasn't as startling as another event that took place Tuesday at Staples Center.

Kobe Bryant was booed, loudly, on his home court during pregame introductions, perhaps only a one-game reminder from fans that he was their darling as recently as six months ago, but also possibly a harbinger of things to come if the losses begin to collect this season.

There were loud cheers when Derek Fisher was introduced after three years away from the Lakers, but the boos continued for Bryant when he touched the ball for the first time.

Undoubtedly, it surprised him, even if he kept it to himself. His pregame prediction on the fan reaction: "I don't think it will be any different."

Afterward, Bryant said he could comprehend their frustration.

"I understand where they're coming from," he said. "They didn't really understand the whole situation because I'm keeping my mouth shut like I should."

Coach Phil Jackson was caught off guard.

"I turned to one of my coaches and said, 'Are those boos?' And one of them said, 'Yeah, those are boos,' " Jackson said. "I was surprised."

They quickly turned to cheers when Bryant scored on a finger roll with 9:01 left in the first quarter. And again when he hit a 21-footer a little more than a minute later. And when he found Ronny Turiaf and Kwame Brown for easy dunks.

The first "M-V-P" chant of the regular season started a few minutes later, as Bryant was shooting free throws. Then came a "Ko-be, Ko-be" chant as he was shooting free throws in the fourth quarter, and again at the end of the game.

Bryant finished with 45 points on 13-for-32 shooting. He made 18 of 27 free throws and had four assists. His free-throw attempts were a career high, topping his old mark of 26, and his nine misses from the line tied a career high.

"He got tired out there," Jackson said. "I had to talk to him a little bit about hitting the open guy and not crashing in there as often as he did. I thought there was a lot of times when his competitive zeal brought him in there hell or high water, and he didn't get the call, and as a consequence there were some things that happened that turned into layups for them or easy run-outs for them."

Nothing the Lakers did was enough to keep fans from streaming for the exits with 2:43 to play and the Rockets ahead, 86-78.

The Lakers made an energetic late run, bringing the remaining fans to their feet after Fisher's long jumper from the baseline tied the score at 92 with 13.9 seconds left.

But Shane Battier hit a three-pointer with 2.5 seconds left to reestablish Houston's lead.

The Lakers made only 32 of 76 shots (42.1%) and hit an abysmal 27 of 45 free throws (60%).

Bryant took a page from the past when he showed up several hours before tip-off and shot around, something he hadn't done in a couple of seasons after it was a game-day ritual earlier in his career.

He also had to get re-acclimated to his old position after Jackson made his first strategic switch of the season. Jackson moved Bryant from his push-the-pace facilitator role to his more comfortable spot on the wing, where he had dwelt the last several seasons.

Jackson informed Bryant of his decision earlier in the day, citing Bryant's exorbitant turnover rate (11.2 per 48 minutes) while trying to fill the distributor role in exhibition play.

"I talked a little bit about the turnover factor, trying to eliminate the turnovers that have hurt us in training camp," Jackson said. "He thought that wouldn't be a problem, but I said, 'Let's give this a try and see if we can't be more stable.' "

So Fisher was thrust into the facilitator role, which Bryant said was fine. Fisher had 17 points and two assists.

Said Bryant: "It's just back in my comfort zone. I'm back in that striking position."

He tried to strike but might have been slowed by his wrist, which he hurt last week after getting kicked by Utah center Mehmet Okur.

It didn't help that the Lakers were without Lamar Odom, who could be out another two weeks. Their starting lineup against Houston: Bryant, Fisher, Turiaf, Brown and Luke Walton. It also didn't help that they were practically giving away the game with their low shooting percentages and on-court gaffes.

In one slapstick scene, Walton and Brown fumbled a ball in front of the Houston basket that Walton inadvertently bounced into the hoop. Tracy McGrady was given two points as the Rockets' bench erupted in laughter.

"I told the team I thought they saw the best and the worst of who we are," Jackson said. "There were some real nice moments and there were just comedy-of-error moments out there in the third quarter."

McGrady had 30 points and Yao Ming had 25 for Houston.

Now the Lakers are looking at a road game Friday at Phoenix, obviously not an easy way to end any losing streak, even if it's only one game.

mike.bresnahan@latimes.com

 

http://www.latimes.com/sports/baske...eadlines-sports-nba-lakers&ctrack=2&cset=true

MARK HEISLER / ON THE NBA
Beginning of the end starts for the Lakers
Mark Heisler

October 31, 2007

Day 1, Kobe held hostage.

The season finally arrived, although without all the joy it once brought to Lakerdom, where Opening Night is also known as the Beginning of the End.

If an era is indeed ending, Tuesday night's wild 95-93 loss to Houston can serve as a reminder of everything it was -- from the boos Bryant received when he was introduced to the wild cheers as he led the Lakers back from a 10-point deficit in the last 1 minute 32 seconds.

In Bryant's Lakers career, as in the game, it wasn't always successful or even coherent, but it was always thrilling and it was never over until it was over.

"Kobe's Kobe," said Houston's Shane Battier, who made the three-pointer with 2.5 seconds left that stole the game back. "He's the best in the league.

"When you're going against him, you have to focus every second because he never takes a possession off. When he laces them on, whatever is happening elsewhere, he's going to bring it for 48 minutes."

True to form, Bryant was as brilliant as he often is when the chips are down -- especially when he's the one who has overturned them -- scoring 45 points.

The noticeable boos in the mixed reception he received before the game turned into hopeful chants of "Ko-Be! Ko-Be!" in the second half and screams and gasps at the end.

These days Lakers fans don't know whether to cheer or boo, hope or mourn.

With the NBA supposedly focused on opening its new season, the Lakers soap opera seemed to envelop the entire league, instead.

Two general managers, Washington's Ernie Grunfeld and Houston's Daryl Morey, felt obliged to issue rare announcements to reassure their players they weren't offering any of them to the Lakers.

Trying to end speculation involving Gilbert Arenas, whose contract is expiring, Grunfeld said, "I don't normally comment on rumors but there is no truth to this rumor."

The Lakers weren't talking to Houston about Tracy McGrady either, but there were so many rumors, Morey announced there was nothing to them, which, McGrady acknowledged, "means a lot."

"From the outside looking in, I think they [Lakers] need to do something early rather than wait because of the effect on the other players," McGrady said before Tuesday's game.

"But, I mean, it's tough, with what he [Bryant] has done in that Laker uniform? Three titles, scoring championships and just the performances he put on. It seems weird that we're even talking about this, you know. . . .

"It's just a shame we're sitting here talking about him departing ways from the Lakers and all this other [stuff] when we should be talking about a game, me going up against one of the best players in this league.

"Man, it's just crazy."

Hey, these are the Lakers, where crazy is the norm on a good day.

Not that they were going to fool the new Houston coach, Rick Adelman, the old Sacramento coach who saw the Lakers fight among themselves often enough while taking care of business when they got on the court.

"I told my team not to pay any attention to what's going on with the Lakers," Adelman said before the game. "Kobe will play great. He'll be energized."

Sure enough, Bryant had 19 points by halftime, when he went on with TNT's sideline reporter, Craig Sager, and announced, "As long as I'm wearing the Laker uniform, I'm a Laker."

So far so good for the Lakers. One half of the first game was in the books and Bryant was still a Laker!

Unfortunately, that pretty much ended their good times for the moment. The Rockets took over in the third quarter, going up by 10 points when Derek Fisher knocked the ball loose and, as everyone else changed ends, Luke Walton then accidentally batted it into the Rockets' basket.

McGrady got credit for it because he was the closest Rocket, at midcourt.

It looked like the crowning indignity until the Lakers turned it around at the end, before the Rockets turned it around one last time.

Bryant's Lakers career continues. As it was, so it will be, however long it lasts.

mark.heisler@latimes.com

 

And of course, Plaschke has to chime in:

http://www.latimes.com/sports/baske...eadlines-sports-nba-lakers&ctrack=3&cset=true

BILL PLASCHKE
It sounded like a changing of the guard
Fans boo Bryant after the Dodgers seemingly have Torre already in their dugout.
Bill Plaschke

October 31, 2007

Out with the Kobe.

And in with the Joe.

In one corner of town Tuesday night, a fallen hero was being pushed to the door.

Booooo cried thousands of fans as Kobe Bryant was introduced at Tuesday's Laker opener.

The boos drowned out his name. The boos followed his game.

The first time he touched the ball, boo. The first time he shot a free throw, boo.

In another corner of town, a new hero was being welcomed in his place.

Unless Frank McCourt whiffs on the fattest pitch in Dodgers history -- always a possibility -- Joe Torre is indeed coming to Chavez Ravine.

Sources say Torre should be announced soon as the new Dodgers manager, great news because of his resume, better news considering his baggage.

Yes, he could eventually be sending for an old friend named Alex Rodriguez.

It was a new day in Los Angeles sports, indeed, our two most celebrated franchises changing places and paces, the Dodgers speeding up into the carpool lane, the Lakers slowing down on to the shoulder, nothing as it seems.

The beginning of the Lakers' season felt like an ending.,

The end of the Dodgers' season felt like a beginning.

The Lakers' opening 95-93 loss to the Houston Rockets was an exciting hello that sounded like a goodbye.

The opening boos no doubt stained the brain of a guy who never forgets.

Bryant has never been booed here like this. In fact, despite all of his controversy, he has never really been booed here, period.

It wasn't all the fans who booed, but it was probably 75%, enough that it seemed to stick with Bryant the rest of the night.

Until the final frantic moments that featured a stirring Lakers comeback, Bryant threw up 32 sometimes wild shots, occasionally slowed the action to a halt, and rarely smiled.

When Phil Jackson said that he hopes that situation is resolved, "sooner than later," consider Tuesday night a vote for "sooner."

"I understand where they're coming from," Bryant said later of the booing fans.

At the end of the game, all the boos had become cheers, but those were for the Lakers as much as for Bryant.

The overall feeling at Staples Center surrounding Bryant was one of a guest who has overstayed his welcome.

Afterward, when told that Magic Johnson had said on TNT that he hoped the matter would be resolved within a week, Bryant shrugged.

"He's the owner," Bryant said. "He should know something."

So the sky above Staples Center darkens . . . just as the stars above Dodger Stadium twinkle.

Make no mistake, Joe Torre will light up the joint.

"The minute he opens his mouth, people will listen," said a source close to the negotiations. "He brings that team a credibility that it has been missing."

That credibility was strained once again Tuesday in a conference call staged to clear the dugout for Torre.

Manager Grady Little claimed he was resigning for personal reasons, even though, in the final days of the season, he excitedly talked with me about managing next season.

General Manager Ned Colletti then claimed Little would still be the manager if he didn't quit, which is interesting because sources say Colletti was negotiating contract with candidates before Little quit.

I didn't actually participate in the conference call. When I phoned the number at the proper time, the line was repeatedly busy, one of many problems that often plague the rudimentary in-house conference call system that McCourt installed.

When I phoned the Dodgers, an employee told me that the line was overloaded, and suggested I watch the call on ESPN.

I'm sure Dodgers fans are thrilled I didn't have a chance to ask any stupid questions. But their disingenuous comments spoke for themselves, not just in Los Angeles, but throughout a baseball world that once again is tittering at the Dodgers' poor communication skills.

"The call should have been held on April Fools' Day," said one baseball insider.

This will truly be a marriage of one of baseball's classiest managers with one of its clunkiest franchises.

But, hey, Joe Torre is used to it. When he took over the New York Yankees in 1996, they were also a mess, their owner was also considered a detriment, their public image was awful.

Four World Series championships later, the Yankees have returned to a seemingly permanent spot atop the baseball galaxy, and Torre deserves much of the credit.

Of course, he had plenty of help in recent years with Alex Rodriguez. Sources say Torre would not take this job unless McCourt promised to bring in a big-hitting third baseman, and Torre has told folks that Rodriguez could be the one.

Kobe who?

Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Plaschke, go to latimes.com/plaschke.