Although the Lakers won on Tuesday night against the Toronto Raptors, they remain mired in a slump Derek Fisher wants to get out of quickly.
Fish said Wednesday that there were several things that could be attributed to the poor play as of late, but none of them were reasons Los Angeles shouldn’t be winning.
As No. 2 told reporters, acclimating Ron Artest to the offense, as well as dealing with Kobe Bryant’s nagging injuries are two factors that have kept the Lakers offense from realizing it’s true potential. But he emphasized, he wasn’t preparing a list of excuses. Rather, it’s normal for a team, even of the Lakers caliber to hit a rough patch in the midst of a long season.
"I think the season is long, and when you do something 100 times, there’s opportunities for you to have great times and not so great times. That’s what we are going through. We’ve still done it right 46 times and not right 18 times.”
He was confident though, that this stretch would not last.
"We have to get things turned around, and we will," Fish said.
You can listen to his entire interview here.
STARTS WITH THE SUNS
That turnaround, the Lakers hope, has already begun.
But Friday night against division rival Phoenix, they have a chance to start streaking anew. The Lakers are 2-1 against the Suns so far, who are seven back of Los Angeles in the Pacific. In the three games so far, Fish averaged 5.7 points and two assists a game.
It’s down to the desert for Los Angeles, who plays Phoenix on Friday. The matchup starts at 6 p.m. PST and the game can be seen on KCAL-TV.
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Lakers’ Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Phil Jackson and Derek Fisher dissect the team’s recent struggles (LA Times, March 9, 2010)
http://lakersblog.latimes.com/lakersblog/2010/03/lakers-kobe-bryant-pau-gasol-phil-jackson-and-derek-fisher-dissect-the-teams-recent-struggles.html