Lakers rally to achieve cohesive unit before facing Denver

The Lakers, although equipped with 22 years of experience between NBA star Kobe Bryant and veteran Derek Fisher, are still the second youngest team in the NBA and it’s showing - the team has lost the last five of seven games and their season is off to a rocky 10-17 start. Now, with the possible absence of Ronny Turiaf in tonight’s game against Denver, the Lakers are looking to make improvements with its younger members to uphold more sound performances for their next few games.
“It’s important for them to see an example of how you have to hold your composure, hold your poise, don’t become desperate, don’t become angry, fly off the handle just because we’re struggling a little bit right now,” Derek Fisher said in a Dec. 3 interview with the Orange County Register. “It’s important that guys still see positivity. They still feel that there’s good energy going on with our team and that the things that are going on are correctable.”

Getting back to the basics, rookie Chris Mihm may go in for Turiaf, although he hasn’t been able to practice because of inflammation in his foot. Turiaf, who wasn’t a part of the Lakers 116-95 win Tuesday night against Minnesota, is expected to possibly be back tonight, but more importantly the team has been working on a sense of cohesiveness, according to Fisher.
“There are a lot of situations where we’re not covering for each other on the floor — we’re allowing guys to get beat defensively and not going over and helping,” he said. “That’s just an unwritten rule in this league — you don’t leave your teammate out there by himself. We’re doing that a lot right now, and that’s something we have to shore up if we have any chance to be successful this year.”Still haven’t seen a Lakers game? What are you waiting for? Now is the perfect time to grab a pair of Lakers tickets for tonight’s matchup with Denver or Sunday’s game against the Golden State Warriors. Check out Stubhub.com right now for great deals!

Permalink - Posted in General on December 5, 2007 - Post a comment