Jackson, O’Neal Have Their Say

Rick Adelman, Sacramento’s basketball coach, said this week the Lakers are too good for their current preoccupation with the Game 2 officiating, an effort that had handfuls of Lakers in foul trouble, Shaquille O’Neal included.

In the NBA, of course, it is the losing team’s duty to complain about the referees and the winning team’s obligation to wonder what the other team could possibly be talking about. It must be in the collective bargaining agreement.

The Kings had their tantrum after Game 1, which was followed immediately by 28 free throws being shot in the first half of Game 2 on Monday, 23 by the Kings.

The Lakers--O’Neal, in particular--were aghast.

Adelman called it “posturing,” adding the Lakers are “Good enough.... They shouldn’t be worried about the refs.”

Relayed those thoughts, Laker Coach Phil Jackson grinned tightly.

“I don’t know what that means,” he said. “We are too good, I guess. When Shaq’s not on the floor, though, we don’t look too good.”

Beyond that, Jackson refused to be drawn into the debate with Adelman, whose quotes frequently suggest he doesn’t like Jackson very much.

O’Neal is the Lakers’ focal point in nearly all of their conversations with league officials regarding game officials, and the Lakers did again speak to the league about Game 2.

The critical issue is the number of offensive fouls O’Neal does or does not commit.

“I’m just going to keep playing, keep playing the way I play,” O’Neal said. “We had a couple chances to win the game. You know, you look at the history of the game, all the guys that have won rings have won because of heart and desire. It would be unfortunate if they let one get away.... Guys like that mess the game up. I don’t let my children watch that [stuff] anymore.”

The reference probably was to Vlade Divac and Scot Pollard, the King centers, whom O’Neal frequently accuses of practicing flopping, a defensive technique that O’Neal considers unmanly.

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Considering Kobe Bryant’s illness, it was not at all surprising to see O’Neal become the Game 2 aggressor. He attempted 27 shots and scored 35 points, this season’s playoff high.

Bryant does not yet appear to be fully healthy, so expect plenty of offense from O’Neal again, especially if the Lakers are missing their perimeter shots again.

“Last game he was exploding to the hoop really well,” Bryant said. “I haven’t seen that for a while, so that’s very encouraging. We ride him all the time. Just because he’s not putting up 30 and 20, we ride him nonetheless, because he draws so much attention.”

During the regular season, O’Neal frequently pulled Bryant aside and told him if he were particularly gimpy. O’Neal played most of the season on a painful arthritic toe. On those nights, Bryant was more forceful with his offense.

“We look out for each other like that,” Bryant said.