Adelman Questions Fox Tactics

After the Lakers defeated Portland in Game 1 of the first round, Trail Blazer Coach Mike Dunleavy immediately began to question how officials favorably treat center Shaquille O’Neal.

Sacramento Coach Rick Adelman has taken a different approach.

Even though O’Neal played much the same as he did against Portland in scoring 44 points and grabbing 21 rebounds in Sunday’s Game 1 victory over Sacramento, Adelman directed his attention to the defense played by Rick Fox on the Kings’ Predrag Stojakovic.

“I’m a little more concerned about the amount of holding and grabbing that Rick Fox does on Predrag,” Adelman said. “Frankly, that is not in the rules, at least that is what I thought.

“You can’t put your hands on people when they drive or try and move. That’s something that I think they should look at because he’s our star. That should be cleaned up . . . you have to let Predrag play.”

Stojakovic, who averaged 23.3 points and 7.5 rebounds against Phoenix in the first round, had a difficult afternoon against Fox, who guarded him much more aggressively than did the Suns’ Shawn Marion.

“Marion is nothing compared to Fox,” said Stojakovic, who made only six of 18 shots and finished with 20 points and four rebounds Sunday.

“I was trying to stay focused on the game and not get distracted because of those things. But if the referees are going to let him do that, I can’t do nothing against that. All I can do is keep trying to be aggressive.”

For Tuesday’s Game 2, Stojakovic realizes that he must adjust to be more effective. Although he has gained a reputation as one of the league’s top shooters, Stojakovic understands that he can’t count on the officials to contain Fox.

“I was trying to show that he was holding me. I was trying to get away but they let him do it,” Stojakovic said. “I just have to learn from this game and be even stronger next game. . . . Hopefully, [the officials] will see me being more aggressive.”

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The Kings may have lost Game 1 to the Lakers, but they feel good about their chances to advance to the Western Conference finals.

“Now that we have a pretty good gauge of where we are, it is up to us to play a better game,” Adelman said.

Rebounding is high among Sacramento’s priorities. Behind O’Neal, the Lakers outrebounded the Kings, 51-42, with most of their advantage coming on offense.

“We have to take the attitude that we have to be the aggressors,” Adelman said. “We have to attack them offensively. They are a good defensive team, but we feel that we can score against them. We have to find out how we can be more consistent for 48 minutes.”