For the team with the second-best record in the league, rarely is there a "must-win" situation in the regular season.
But in light of how the Los Angeles Lakers have been playing, Derek Fisher believes that tonight’s matchup against the Utah Jazz has added significance.
"Guys are genuinely concerned, frustrated and want to turn it around," Fish told Brian Kamenetzky of ESPN Los Angeles.
Fish knows that wins don’t come easy. Even though Los Angeles is 2-1 against the Jazz this year, they can’t just expect a victory.
"We’re in the NBA. Other teams aren’t going to just let you do what you want to do when you want to do it. We have to gain that ability back to enforce our will upon other teams. That’s something we haven’t been able to do of late."
Fish said he and the Lakers need to bounce back from their up and down road trip, where they went 2-3.
"By any stretch of the imagination we didn’t go into it thinking we were going to lose three games."
He also knows that turning things around doesn’t happen without hard work.
"We’re not sitting around waiting to just play better when the playoffs start. We actually want to play better, but it is a process, and there are times when we’ve taken a step forward and then got knocked back."
But Derek knows, as a Laker, you don’t let people knock you back. You charge forward, and keep working toward a title.
"There’s overall frustration that we’re not playing the way we’d like to play," he said, "but we’re not going to allow it to bubble over and become something that derails us from where we want to go."
BITTER END IN ATLANTA
Fish’s comments at practice echoed what he said after the Lakers ended their road trip with a loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
"Not a good trip at all for us, it’s as simple as that," he told the Los Angeles Daily News.
No. 2 said that Los Angeles left with several goals for the trip, but fell short of achieving any of them.
"We had some things we wanted to accomplish on this trip. There were five games we felt would be highly competitive against teams that were good on their home courts."
Fish flatly said that the losses to the Hawks, Hornets and Thunder were the result of not showing up to play.
"It was really about a lack of appreciation for the competition. I think, in the three games we lost, we just got outplayed. It’s that simple."
As a leader on the team, No. 2 knows that there are no excuses, that the blame falls squarely on he and his teammates shoulders.
"There isn’t anyone in our locker room offering any excuses of any kind. We’re taking it as hard as we can take it and wanting to come back and figure things out."
NEXT UP
The Lakers host the Jazz tonight.
In three games against the Utah Jazz this year, Fish has averaged seven points.
The Lakers are 2-1 so far, and can clinch the season series with a win tonight at 7:30 at the Staples Center. The game is being aired nationally televised on ESPN.
RELATED ARTICLES
Lakers are 13-8 since All-Star break (ESPNLosAngeles.com, April 1, 2010)
http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/news/story?id=5048505