Jackson happy to stay home

Lakers Coach Phil Jackson didn't sound disappointed that he was passed over in favor of Philadelphia 76ers Coach Larry Brown for the honor of coaching the U.S. basketball team that will play in the Olympic qualifier this summer. Brown likely will coach the Olympic team in 2004 in Athens, Greece.

"One of the reasons I put my name in the ring, allowed myself to be nominated, was that I knew there was a chance [Shaquille O'Neal] would play, and if we wanted the best players, I was willing to sacrifice my summers," Jackson said.

"So it's kind of a relief now for both of us."

O'Neal, who played on the Olympic team in 2000, had said he would consider playing again, but only if Jackson were coaching the team. Although O'Neal isn't expected to play now, Lakers co-star Kobe Bryant already has said he wants to be on the team, regardless of who is coaching it.

A fresh look

For the first time this season, Magic Coach Doc Rivers started his dream lineup, placing Grant Hill, Tracy McGrady and Mike Miller on the perimeter. Point guard Darrell Armstrong went to a sixth-man role. Both moves have been anticipated.

Rivers has been waiting to unveil the starting trio of Hill, McGrady and Miller for three years.

"We had to wait for Grant to get his feet up under him -- literally," Rivers said.

Now, Rivers has four-fifths of the starting lineup he wants to use. When Horace Grant fully recovers from left-knee surgery, Rivers would like to move Pat Garrity to the bench and start Grant alongside Shawn Kemp. Then, the Magic would be big enough to compete inside and have a size advantage on the perimeter.

Cautious steps

Hill admitted that in his past three games, he tried unsuccessfully to play through soreness in his left ankle.

"I was limited in those games," said Hill, who hadn't played in a week before Wednesday night. "Those were rough games for me. I did what I could do, and it wasn't much."

In those three games, he scored eight, 10 and two points and played a total of seven quarters. His admission is a departure from last season, when he never would say he didn't feel well, instead attributing his problems to "rust." Now that the Magic have seen the real Hill play, they can tell whenever he is suffering from ankle problems.

"That has been a luxury," Rivers said of knowing Hill better. "You notice it right away. You notice his first step. You notice the pep. It's not a guess anymore."

Leaving his mark

Here's one for the fact box: O'Neal holds the Lakers' all-time record for most points scored in a game against the Magic: 39 on Feb. 18, 2000.

And he also holds the Magic's all-time record for most points in a game against the Lakers: 46 on March 8, 1995.

Via Orlando Sentinel

Los Angeles Lakers, Orlando Magic

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Let the Great Debate begin: Kobe or T-Mac?

Basketball's Great Debate finally hit the floor Wednesday night. Magic-Lakers. You know what that meant.

Tracy McGrady or Mark Madsen?

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner.

"Hey, T-Mac, I called ESPN and voted for you," Darrell Armstrong said as he left a happy Magic locker room.

That poll actually asked who's better, McGrady or Kobe Bryant? With all due respect to Madsen, the Lakers' loveable, rhythm-impaired center, the real question is not so easily answered. It is quickly becoming one of those questions for the ages.

Bird or Magic? Stones or Beatles? Boxers or briefs?

There is no wrong answer, only different ones. Though one thing is now beyond debate.

McGrady is better.

The record crowd at the TD Waterhouse Centre sure thought so after T-Mac faked a spin that made Bryant look like Madsen trying to dance at the last L.A. title celebration. The crowd laughed at poor, defenseless Kobe, who doesn't suffer indignity well.

"I normally don't retaliate," he said.

Bryant blew past McGrady on the baseline and hammered down a dunk that was felt all the way back in L.A.

Ergo, Kobe is better.

That's how this debate goes. It cannot be settled in one game, though we can tell you who has the better team. That would be McGrady, who had proven commodities like Mike Miller, Darrell Armstrong and (sometimes) Grant Hill to help him. Bryant had Soumaila Samake, Stanislav Medvedenko and Jannero Pargo. The fact management has let Kobe's supporting cast turn into the U.N. intramural team may eventually cost L.A. a fourth consecutive title.

Well, there's always that Shaq guy. Orlando couldn't defend him, but somehow the Andrew DeClercq-Shawn Kemp-Warren Sapp combo contained him. The best chance the Magic had of actually stopping O'Neal came at halftime. Sapp, wearing a (we pause for a melancholy moment of reflection) Shaq Magic jersey, gave the prodigal center a handshake and a hug.

If only Sapp had mistaken Shaq for Green Bay lineman Chad Clifton. But that's another cheap-shot story. The cheaper-by-the-dozen shots Wednesday were flowing from McGrady and Bryant. Not in words, but in the 59 combined attempts.

"I really wasn't trying to get caught up in the one-on-one," McGrady said.

How could he not? Players are programmed to downplay such rivalries, which is sort of like Chevy pretending Ford doesn't exist.

"Oh, he was up for it," Armstrong said of McGrady.

He was throwing up everything, including his lunch. McGrady stared down the flu the way he eyed Bryant after he hit a jumper. Or when he slid past Kobe and finger-rolled in a basket. Bryant then drove the lane and tomahawked another dunk.

"They're both great," Doc Rivers said. "Leave it at that."

You might as well ask people to stop debating boxers or briefs. Some say Bryant is a better defender. He also has the ultimate last line of defense backing him up in O'Neal.

Shaq lightens Kobe's basketball burden, but his presence can mute individual brilliance. McGrady can pretty much do what he wants, which included nine assists Wednesday. Kobe came back with 10 rebounds, one more than Shaq.

"They are the two best," said O'Neal, conveniently overlooking himself.

If Kobe vs. T-Mac were a regular production, the NBA wouldn't have to rely on Charles Barkley kissing a donkey's rear end to generate national attention. How sweet would it be to see the Great Debate played out more than twice a year?

For now, we'll just have to savor the drives, the spins, the dunks and Wednesday's final results. T-Mac had 38. Kobe had 38. Madsen had 0.

That pretty much settles that.

Via Orlando Sentinel

Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Lakers

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T-Mac betters Shaq

For once, it was different.

For once, the Orlando Magic had all the fun.

For once, fans could see Shaquille O'Neal in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform and feel a different sorrow.

Sorrow for O'Neal, not themselves.

As the season wears on, O'Neal will reclaim his dominance, and the Lakers will become the Lakers again. And this city will frown again. Wednesday, though, was a night for the new, not the old.

The Magic beat the three-time defending champion Lakers 112-102 before an announced sellout crowd of 17,283 at TD Waterhouse Centre, the largest in franchise history.

Tracy McGrady is the star here now, and maybe after this game, those still hibernating and depressed will realize it.

Weakened by a stomach virus, McGrady was courageous and determined as he led the Magic (9-7) to their first victory over Shaq and the Lakers since Nick Anderson hit a dramatic game-winning shot on Feb. 22, 1998. The Lakers (5-11) had beaten Orlando seven straight times.

McGrady scored 38 points and added nine assists and six rebounds. He won an entertaining duel with Lakers star Kobe Bryant with an array of fakes, jumpers and timely defensive stops.

Bryant, who played with a bruised left shin, finished with 38 points and 10 rebounds, but he could not stop McGrady when it mattered.

"He's going to get his," McGrady said of the matchup. "I'm going to get mine."

When McGrady was done getting his, he had this arena loud again. Fans were mocking Bryant, chanting, "KO-BE! KO-BE!"1

After Shawn Kemp grabbed a rebound and muscled a layup between two defenders for a 106-96 lead, ears tingled because of the noise.

The outcome was no longer in question with a minute left, but many fans stayed instead of rushing to beat traffic.

The party was on.

"That's the most I've seen them into a game, excluding the playoffs," forward Pat Garrity said of the record-setting crowd.

This city may not get over losing O'Neal to the Lakers, a move that shifted the balance of power in the NBA, but it isn't doing so badly after all.

The Lakers' struggles continue. It was their second loss in a row. Even with O'Neal, who had 28 points and nine rebounds, back in the lineup, they remain far from the team that has dominated the league.

Mike Miller made his third consecutive start and had 22 points as the Magic went to the anticipated big lineup of McGrady, Miller and Grant Hill on the perimeter. Hill finished with nine points and 10 rebounds, but he sat out the fourth quarter. Back in a sixth-man role, Armstrong had 14 points.

Between O'Neal's domination and Andrew DeClercq's hustle, McGrady and Bryant had some thrilling moments.

Late in the second quarter, they provided exquisite back-to-back highlights. McGrady backed down Bryant, faked right, lost him, turned left and hit an 8-foot fadeaway. On the next possession, Bryant drove on McGrady for a dunk and then drew a technical for hanging on the rim.

Bryant's message was clear.

Let's get it on.

McGrady responded to the challenge.

"They went at it," Hill said. "They were going at it, probably, like high-schoolers there for a while. It was definitely fun."

Bryant, who hates losing, only could sneer and try to deflect the Kobe/T-Mac talk.

"It wasn't special at all," Bryant said.

On this night, in this city, it was.

Via Orlando Sentinel

Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Lakers

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