v<-3
rwomen Writers/Cultures?
Women’s Fiction
Anne Laskaya, 11:00 a.m., MUYVH
ENG 315/CRN 42843
IMERl
2000 SUMMER SESSION • JUNE 19-AUGUST 11
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The Admiral David E. Jeremiah and
Mrs. Connie Jeremiah Lecture Series
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Growing Up under the
Khmer Rouge
Chanrithy Him, Author
Thursday, May 18
3:00 j>.m.
(3 erfinger Lounge
reception to follow
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Gamesmanship has begun
K AA/l
■ Lakers vs. Blazers: It’s
finally official, and the trash
talking—or sweet talking
— is underway.
By John Nadel
The Associated Press
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Kobe
Bryant said there’s no doubt about
it — the Portland Trail Blazers
have better players than the Los
Angeles Lakers.
Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who
coached Scottie Pippen in Chica
go for nine seasons, believes the
Blazers underachieved this sea
son, and said Pippen has to step
forward or they won’t advance to
the NBA Finals.
And with that, the gamesman
ship officially began Wednesday
for the dream matchup of the NBA
playoffs, the Western Conference
finals, which start Saturday at Sta
ples Center.
“I personally think if Scottie
doesn’t lead this club and take
them by the horns, they’re not go
ing to get by us,” Jackson said at
the Lakers’ practice facility on a
day off for his team. “I’m going to
try and take that strength away.
“I don’t know who else can lead
them, I don’t see another leader on
that basketball club. ”
Pippen didn’t fill that role with
the Bulls, who won six champi
onships during the 1990s —
Michael Jordan did. Neither Jack
son nor Pippen has won a champi
onship without Jordan. Perhaps
one will next month.
“This is what it’s boiled down
to, as ironic as it is,” Jackson said.
“I think this is great intrigue.”
The Lakers and Blazers were
the NBA’s best teams record-wise
during the regular season, win
ning 67 and 59 games, respective
ly
When asked if Portland was the
best team he had faced, Bryant
replied, “I’d say so, yeah.”
“Everybody’s been talking
about this series forever, now it’s
here, let’s play,” Bryant said. “I’m
ready to rock and roll, man, I’m
ready to play. We’ll be ready.”
Pippen said much the same
thing in Portland, and expressed
confidence in the Blazers.
“This is kind of what everybody
anticipated it would come down
to, so I think both teams are look
ing forward to the challenge,” he
said. “We’re very confident that
we are pretty much the team to
beat.
I think Portland
under-achieved this year
Phil Jackson
Los Angel es
Lakers coach
n
“But the focal point is not be
tween me and Phil Jackson. It’s the
Lakers against the Blazers, and it’s
the players out on the court. But it
should be a fun series. I’m going to
enjoy competing against him. ”
Bryant, who scored 17 points as
the Lakers manhandled Phoenix
87-65 Tuesday night to earn their
berth in the conference finals, said
he had a “tremendous amount of
respect” for the Blazers.
“As far as athletically, every
body knows they’re better than we
are,” he said. “They have better
players, too. Physically, we can’t
match up with diem; they’re big
ger than we are. We beat teams
with execution.”
Bryant also said he believes the
Lakers are the steadier of the two
teams, who split four games this
season, with each going 1-1 at
home.
In their last meeting, on Feb. 29
in Portland, the Lakers rallied to
win 90-87. Both teams entered
that game with 11-game winning
streaks and 45-11 records.
“I think Portland under
achieved this year,” Jackson said.
“They had a low spell in March,
after we beat them up there.”
Starting with the loss to the Lak
ers, the Blazers went 14-12 to fin
ish the season. However, they
were without Brian Grant because
of an injured right foot for 11
games, including the one against
the Lakers, and later lost starting
center Arvydas Sabonis, who also
injured his right foot.
Both are healthy now.
Grant, a burly forward, played a.
major role defensively against
Shaquille O’Neal, the NBA’s lead
ing scorer and MVP, when the
Blazers rallied for a 95-91 victory
over the Lakers at Staples Center
on Jan. 22. O’Neal scored only
three points in the second half and
17 overall in that game.
O’Neal and Bryant provide the
Lakers with a 1-2 punch the Blaz
ers can’t match. However, as Jack
son said: “They’re pretty deep one
through 11 or 12 or whatever.
That’s the one intriguing thing
about this series — does quantity
beat quality, in terms of experi
ence, talent?
“Our key is Shaquille, going in
side, making them adjust. Our key
is to corral their offense. They
have a lot of things that they can
do, a lot of bodies for Shaq. ”
The Lakers have a 23-1 record at
Staples Center since losing to
Portland nearly four months ago,
with the lone loss a meaningless
98-80 setback to San Antonio on
April 8. The Lakers played with
out O’Neal in that game, and they
had already clinched homecourt
advantage throughout the play
offs.
“There’s one thing that hasn’t
changed,” Blazers coach Mike
Dunleavy said. “If we’re going to
win this series, we’ve got to win at
least one game in LA.”
Dunleavy was the Lakers’ coach
the last time they played in the
NBA Finals, in 1991. Their oppo
nent? The Jackson-coached Bulls,
who won their first championship
that year.
Philadelphia eyeing historic run
By Rob Maaddi
The Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA — They began
their comeback by playing for
pride. Now, the Philadelphia
76ers are halfway to making histo
ry
The Sixers, a missed shot away
from getting swept by Indiana, are
two wins away from becoming the
first NBA team to rally from a 3-0
deficit in a best-of-seven series.
“We still have a chance to win
the series when everybody count
ed us out,” Sixers guard Aaron
McKie said. “But we never count
ed ourselves out. That’s been our
attitude all year long. Whenever
somebody counted us out or the
odds were against us, we found a
way to pull it out.”
The Pacers nearly swept
Philadelphia out of the Eastern
Conference semifinals for the sec
ond straight season, but Travis
Best’s 3-pointer at the buzzer
rimmed out in a 92-90 loss in
Game 4.
With Reggie Miller serving a
one-game suspension for a fight
with Matt Geiger, the Sixers won
Game 5 handily, 107-86, on Mon
day.
“The momentum has shifted,”
Indiana guard Mark Jackson said.
“After we won one game, Jalen
(Rose) said they won’t be coming
back to Philly,” Allen Iverson said
before practice Wednesday. “Now
they are.”
But Iverson said the Sixers are
not content being just the seventh
team to force a Game 6 after losing
three straight. In all, 59 teams have
fallen behind 3-0. Four teams lost
in six games. Two teams lost in
seven games. The other 53, or 90
percent, were either swept or lost
in five.
“We want to make history,”
Iverson said. “We have a chance to
do something special. We’re not
satisfied with winning two games.
We won’t be satisfied until we win
the series. That’s the most impor
tant thing.
“It would be easy to be satisfied
with two wins, then go home for
the summer and watch somebody
else win the championship. We
got the chance to do it ourselves.
Why not us?”
Miller returns for Game 6 Fri
day at the First Union Center.
Geiger must sit out another game.
Iverson said the Sixers will be
ready if Miller whips out his Su
perman T-shirt to motivate Indi
ana.
“If they feel like Superman can
come save the world, we have
Kryptonite here in Philadelphia,”
Iverson said. “They are a different
team without Reggie. Everybody
knows that. They’re better with
Reggie. We can’t think about that.
Our goal is to win the next game.”
Miller donned his Superman
garb before Game 3 of the open
ing-round series against Milwau
kee and scored 34 points. He wore
it again before the final game of
that series and scored 41. He has
n’t wore it since.
The Sixers may have some un
expected help of their own Friday
night. Eric Snow, out since Game
2 with a chip fracture in his right
ankle, will test it at practice
Thursday. Snow, who had been
ruled out for the series, hopes to
be able to play a back-up role.
“It’s 50-50,” he said of his
chances. “I haven’t done anything.
It feels better, but I haven’t tested
it out. It’s not going to heal until
July.”
Snow has faced a 3-0 deficit be
fore. He played for Seattle in 1996
when the Sonics took Chicago to
six games in the NBA Finals after
losing the first three.
“We didn’t want it to end at
home,” he said. “We wanted to
show some pride. We didn’t want
to get to the finals and get swept.”
Now that the Sixers are in a sim
ilar position, Snow said, “It’s
about advancing to the next
round.”
The Sixers say Indiana’s trash
talking motivated them for Game
5, but they refuse to get caught up
in it. After the Pacers’ victory in
Game 3, someone wrote “Lights
out, baby” and “RIP” on the visi
tors’ blackboard at the First Union
Center.
“It takes four wins to win the se
ries,” said Theo Ratliff, who
scored a career playoff-high 26
points in Monday’s victory.
Sixers owner Pat Croce was
most annoyed by Indiana’s swag
ger.
“If you said Rest in Peace, you
might as well slap them in the
face,” he said.