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When doesn't Amare come off as pompous and arrogant?
The guy is an amazing player, but he needs to stop pissing other people off with his arrogance, least of all KOBE BRYANT.
Suns' feelings are an open book
Lakers get bad reviews in an account of last season's series. Now Phoenix must back it up.
By Mike Bresnahan, Times Staff Writer
April 20, 2007
In addition to scouring video for any added advantage against the Phoenix Suns, the Lakers might also want to sit back and read a good book.
Longtime Sports Illustrated reporter Jack McCallum spent last season with the Suns, do enting the inner workings of the high-scoring curiosity piece in a 312-page account that could provide a wealth of bulletin-board material for the Lakers, who begin another first-round series with the Suns on Sunday.
An all-access look at one of the league's top teams, ":07 Seconds or Less" devotes more than 100 pages to last year's playoff series between the Suns and Lakers, eventually won by the Suns in seven games. The book, named after the Suns' mantra to fire up a shot before seven seconds tick off the shot clock, includes several scenes in which Kobe Bryant, Phil Jackson and the Lakers in general are panned by the Suns.
"As the Suns see it, the Lakers trek along the low road," McCallum wrote. "Bryant is arrogant. [Kwame] Brown is just a big body with nothing behind it. Smush Parker was a Sun for a couple of weeks [in 2004-05] and no one rued his departure. Lamar Odom is just too damn big and long. Luke Walton seems like a nice guy ... but he laid out [Tim] Thomas in Game 3 and triggered a miserable chain of events [for the Suns]. Sasha Vujacic is an all-universe whiner with an unpronounceable surname. Plus, Phil Jackson sits on a throne."
The Lakers are aware of the book, which was released last fall, and perused copies of it long before the Suns became their playoff opponent.
Some of the things they have likely noted:
The Suns, while watching video of their Game 1 victory, poked fun at the Lakers' defense.
"This is when we're at our best, when we're changing ends on the fly," Coach Mike D'Antoni said. "They have no answer for it. Kwame is awful. Odom's a very average defender. Vujacic can't guard anybody. And Bryant in the open floor takes chances that aren't good."
Suns owner Robert Sarver had issues with some millionaire court-side fans at Staples Center. He thought Norm Pattiz was getting into the face of Thomas during Game 3 and told the Westwood One Radio Network founder before Game 4, "You ever touch one of my players again, you'll have me to deal with."
Sarver was also mad that actor-director Penny Marshall was near the Suns' huddle before Game 3, talking to some of the Suns' players.
"This L.A. [expletive] has got to stop," Sarver said afterward. "This is war. I hate those guys."
While Suns coaches watched video of Game 3, Jackson wandered into the frame with his painful side-to-side walk.
"Look!" one of the coaches blurted out. "It's the Penguin!"
After the Lakers took a 3-1 series lead, D'Antoni wondered aloud why so many people were lauding Bryant's share-the-ball approach.
"They're talking about Kobe and how great it is that he's playing with the team," D'Antoni said. "Well, isn't that what you're supposed to do? Now he's the savior because he's playing that way? He's no god. He does what he's supposed to be doing, which is what we learned in kindergarten. Share the ball and play."
An unidentified member of the Lakers left a scouting report of the Suns at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel after Game 5 in Phoenix. It quickly ended up in the hands of Suns coaches, much to the Lakers' dismay.
A part that wasn't in the book: Jackson called a hotel official and wondered how the do ent ended up in the Suns' possession. He was informed that all trash from hotel rooms is typically shredded. The hotel official said he would get back to Jackson after investigating the matter further. To this day, Jackson still hasn't heard back from the official, a team source said.
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More recently, the Suns haven't exactly downplayed their thoughts of the Lakers, beginning with forward Amare Stoudemire's statement last week that "I think we would take care of them pretty quick" if the teams met in the first round.
Bryant said the Lakers would "put [Stoudemire's] clairvoyancy to the test," and other Lakers weren't so sure the series would be done so quickly.
"That's his opinion," Walton said. "If he thinks it's going to go four, good for him. They've proven they're a great team. We're the ones that are going to have to play great basketball if we want to win. They've played great basketball all year and they've got home-court advantage, but I don't think it's going to be a four-game series."
Bryant was asked if the Suns (61-21) might be a tad overconfident in viewing the Lakers (42-40).
"I'm sure they are," he said. "Their team's won like, what, 60-something games, whatever it is. I'm sure they're confident. I'm sure they believe it's going to be a quick series. It's our job to try and prove them wrong."
The Lakers will try to do what they did last season and pound the ball inside to their big men, although the presence of Stoudemire will make things more difficult. He missed almost all of last season, including the playoff series against the Lakers, because of knee problems, but has averaged 20.4 points and 9.6 rebounds this season.
"We're going to try to slow it down," Walton said. "That's no secret. Now we've got Kwame back. That's big for us. Ronny [Turiaf] has been playing great. [Andrew] Bynum is starting to play well again.
"We've got to focus on getting the ball inside all game long and not just for a little bit and then start settling for jumpers. If you settle for a jumper against Phoenix and if you don't make it, it's like a turnover, where they're off to the races."
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http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-...la-home-sports
Last edited by TheNextGen; 04-20-2007 at 03:26 AM.
When doesn't Amare come off as pompous and arrogant?
The guy is an amazing player, but he needs to stop pissing other people off with his arrogance, least of all KOBE BRYANT.
I'm thinking Phil Jackson and Kobe didn't reveal their entire playbook in the regular season.
Amare is a lucky son of a if he wasn't 6'10 235lbs he would be flipping burgers at a McDonalds.
i hope the suns get ed up
they won't, but still
ditto, for me, mostly because of d'antoni and his black jesus
110% true
Ring-less smack talk forum.
Wow, I guess I never realized how arrogant D'Antoni was. What an asshole. When you beat a team in the playoffs, you don't go back and make statements about how much they suck. Who in professional sports does that? All D'Antoni had done is put a bad omen on his team. I'll laugh if they lose the series.
mr chicken dance is complaining about overzealous courtside fans?
when he's on the floor and tries to intimidate guys smaller than him.
but guys bigger than him, and he's quiet as a mouse.
oh I thought u meant when does amare.... nevermind
I read that :07 Seconds or Less book a few months ago. Interesting stuff.
Sarver can definitely give Mark Cuban a run for his money as the craziest owner.
D'Antoni sucks hairy and replenishes his ashy moustache with fresh, black pubes.
They are being pretty stupid. I think the Suns are a better team, but they have a great player who can carry his team and a coach who can outwit the slow to wit D'Antoni.
I like being confident, but bashing your opponant based on what happened last season is pretty effin' lame.
Just the motivation the Lakers need. Let's do this!
The most interesting thing I learned from reading that book is how much of a selfish prick Amare is. He could've come back last year but he really dogged it in rehab. His style of play is a little different, but he's little more than a modern-day Bob McAdoo. Dude can score, but that's about it. Can't guard an empty gym.
already gettin a big head as usual. damn i hate the suns
Interesting quotes by the suns. I hope they do well, will probably win this year...but the Lakers are coming up strong. Something like this won't go over easy in lalala land.
Still to keep it in perspective, there's probably a lot of hate on both sides, I just hope if Raja clotheslines kobe again, he's gone for the playoffs, not 1 game.
I'm thinking Phil wanted the Suns - and worked to get them.
Yeah, I thought I read somewhere where he said they would rather play the Suns than the Mavs. Thats why they fought so hard for that 7th seed.
Yes this is perfect. Keep talking Suns coaches and players. Tell us exactly how you feel.
What gives the Suns the right to laugh at Lakers defense, what gives them the right to laugh at any kind of defense?
Those quotes were lifted from McCallum's book. In other words, they were behind-the-scenes quotes that I'm sure you'd hear any coach say during the playoffs. Do you guys honestly think that what they say to the media represents their true feelings? no! You guys talk endless about other teams, but when a coach does it with his assistant coaches while preparing a gameplan in the Playoffs, against a team that was doing some pretty lousy to our team--The Lakers looked like they wanted to pick a fight every single quarter--it's suddenly a bad thing.
Give me a ing break.
Furthermore, D'Antoni didn't even say anything untrue. The Lakers can't guard the Suns when they're running, because they're a mediocre defensive team. That's why they slow the game down to an uncomfortable pace. And during that series, the media was praising Kobe for finally distributing the ball to his teammates, rather than hogging it all game like he usually does...something he should have been doing all season long.
Amare's the only one who has said outright (in the last year) that he thinks they'll beat the Lakers quickly. I don't think that represents the whole team.
^^^^Go Lakers
As a journalist myself, I think it's pretty sad that this sportswriter, Mike Bresnahan, had to resort to focus on a book that came out 8 months ago, about a series that happened one year ago, when the Lakers-Suns hatred was at its peak. I think the rivalry has calmed down a lot since then. Raja and Kobe are talking to each other now. The Suns-Lakers games are relatively uneventful. This guy's just trying to stir a pot that went stagnant a long time ago. He's trying to get the Lakers and their fans pumped up for a series that most everyone knows will ultimately be a huge disappointment for them.
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