Old Play Yields Some New Tricks

The Lakers, longtime victims of the pick-and-roll, have actually been reaping benefits from the offensive set in recent games.

Where once there was Tony Parker and Tim Duncan sticking it to the Lakers with a glut of pick-and-rolls, or, further back, John Stockton and Karl Malone, now it is the Lakers who are converting, at least lately.

The Lakers prefer to move the ball upcourt in transition, but they have been settling into pick-and-roll sets later in games, beginning last week against the Clippers with Chucky Atkins and Brian Cook, and continuing since then with Kobe Bryant and Cook, or Bryant and Lamar Odom.

“Rudy [Tomjanovich] is a coach who likes to control the tempo of the game, especially in the fourth quarter with the dribble, and a good play to do that is with the pick-and-roll,” Atkins said. “We’re trying to use everything we can to our advantage. We have guys that can shoot the ball well from the outside.”

Cook, a back-to-the-basket-style player while winning the Big Ten Conference player of the year award at Illinois, has developed a soft touch on jump shots in his second NBA season, giving Laker guards a steady outside option if lanes are blocked after the initial screen.

“It opens up the floor for us,” Tomjanovich said. “I consider us sort of a driving, slashing type team. When you have a guy like [Cook] to keep people honest on the outside, it really helps.”

The Lakers have also played better defensively against pick-and-roll situations. For all his strengths, one of Shaquille O’Neal’s weaknesses was playing against the pick-and-roll.

“Teams that usually gave us trouble in the past haven’t given us trouble for the simple fact that we’re a better pick-and-roll defensive team,” Bryant said.

*

Forward Jumaine Jones, out since Nov. 10 because of a strained calf, took part in warmups Sunday but said his conditioning was not good enough for him to be reinserted into the lineup. “If I do play, I might go up one trip before I pass out,” he said.