Point guard offers a reminder to Lakers of what they want to avoid. From the L.A. Times:
Derek Fisher had seen this type of behavior too many times, so he acted quickly.The steadying influence in the Lakers' locker room felt the need to approach the whiteboard after another close call Friday against Washington and write a simple phrase -- "Boston Finals" -- followed by the number 24, a reference to a more painful time in recent team history.
The Lakers have frittered away large second-half leads in many games this season, reminding Fisher of the 24-point advantage they lost in Game 4 of last season's NBA Finals.
"That was a window of opportunity to be champions, to take that series to 2-2 with the fifth game on our home court," Fisher said. "We did the same thing that we're starting to do now -- allow teams to get back into a game by executing poorly on offense, turning the ball over, taking poor shots and becoming porous on defense. I just wanted to kind of remind us that if we want to get back to that point, we have to correct this now."
"Tired more so than alarmed," he said. "How many times do you want to bump your head against the same brick wall? The wall's not going to give. Why expend the mental and physical energy that it takes to have to rebuild momentum like that over the course of a 100-plus-game season?
"Nobody says you have to beat anybody by 20. However, if you do put yourself in a position where you're up 16 or you're up 20, we're talented enough and we're good enough that we should be able to extend that lead or hold it."We're not doing it. I don't know if we're getting bored or just losing that immediate focus that we start the game with. We definitely need to improve quickly."
Fisher isn't alone in his thinking.
Kobe Bryant said Friday's victory didn't "sit right" with him because the Lakers were "not moving in the right direction."
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Very impressive for a team that is leading the Western Conference to still be concerned about the way they are playing!
