From Bench, Fisher Sees the Big Picture

The Lakers lost a year ago and the only guy who lost his starting job for it was Derek Fisher.

It took some getting used to for Fisher, who has been trying to convince people he can play the game for most of his life. As the months passed, Fisher gradually found places to help, especially in the fourth quarter.

So, he waited until then and did what he could and, it seems, he’s playing better than he did all season, if not yet making all the shots. Along the way, he has always kept things in perspective.

“As people, we always think when something happens that’s the worst thing that can happen,” he said. “Then, a week later something else happens, and that’s the worst thing that can happen. That’s what this year has been about for myself and for probably several of our guys. But, when you think the world is just over and everybody hates me ... next week is coming.”

He laughed and continued, “There’ll be something else that happens to make you feel like that again. It’s all about picking yourself back up.... That’s what builds who you are. When we’re 30 and then 40 and then 50, and look back on our lives ... that one year where you shot 35% or that one year you didn’t win a championship becomes minuscule.

“In the bigger picture, you won four championships or five championships and played with some of the greatest players who ever played the game, and you’re in one of the greatest cities and playing for the winningest organization in NBA history, positive things you forget about when you get mired in perception and newspapers and television channels. That starts to creep into your mind.

“Hopefully, at the end of all of this we can all look back and realize we deserved being here because we actually worked for it. It wasn’t easy for anybody on this team and we still have an opportunity to win a championship.”

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Shaquille O’Neal’s playoff scoring is down nearly five points from the regular season, and it’s not necessarily from a lack of touches.

In 67 games before the postseason, O’Neal averaged 24.24 field-goal and free-throw attempts. Since, and despite the perception he has been left out of the offense, he has averaged 22.83 shots from the field and the line.

The difference is that O’Neal’s shooting percentage, from both places, is down -- in field-goals from 58.4% to 52.5%, and in free throws from 49.0% to 28.1%.

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Kobe Bryant, on the changes in defending Tony Parker, “Well, if I said those specific changes it wouldn’t be much of a contest, would it?”

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Coach Phil Jackson said he’d stick with his starting five, but probably look for more minutes from his bench in Game 2, notably Kareem Rush, Luke Walton and Brian Cook.