Jackson Critical of Team Play, Officials in Lakers Loss to Timberwolves
Wednesday, November 9, 2005

Asked if playing back-to-back games on the road contributed to the Los Angeles Lakers 88-74 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Phil Jackson smiled and said, “Well, lemme see. I have about 25 excuses. Which one would you like?”

Los Angeles made its first four shots from the field, including a three-pointer by Lamar Odom from the top of the key off a pass from Kobe Bryant; followed by a pair of free-throws from Kwame Brown, the Lakers built an 11-2 lead over Minnesota. However, the Lakers made only 38 percent of their field-goal attempts the rest of the way.

Combined with a disparity at the free-throw line (the Lakers made 8 of 14 while the Timberwolves were converting 17 of 19), Los Angeles faded in the second half. “We didn’t get the calls,” said Jackson in regard to the few trips they made to the line, “but you can’t expect to get calls on the road.

“Smush [Parker] got fouled going in there, and Lamar got fouled inside, and he was complaining. And that was just the way it was tonight. You just had to play and play it through.” Jackson did note that the Lakers missed 3 of 8 free throws in the fourth quarter. “We hurt ourselves.”

While Jackson was accepting of the free-throw disparity, he was more pointed in his criticism of the officiating crew of Tim Donaghy, Steve Javie, and Eli Roe when asked about center Chris Mihm’s performance. Mihm had a hook shot over Michael Olowokandi to give Los Angeles a 4-2 lead in the opening minutes of the game. However, Jackson went back to an offensive foul called on Mihm only 22 seconds into the game. “When the first thing they do is call an offensive foul on him, a non-existent foul, you know that this kid does not have a chance, you know that he’s got ‘shit’ written across the front of his jersey, and that’s the way they treat him and the referees just give him nothing out there. It’s embarrassing.”

Jackson cited an offensive foul called on Mihm in the second quarter when he had “perfect post-up position” on Minnesota’s Mark Madsen. “That’s ridiculous. So he hasn’t got a chance out there. Those kind of calls just take the energy right out of a player.”

Beyond the officials, Jackson pointed at his team’s failures in the game. “I’m not happy with the way the ball’s going inside. Chris Mihm had open opportunities, Kwame had open opportunities. The ball didn’t get inside to them at the end of the game. We gotta do that.”

He also noted that point-guard Smush Parker had no shots in the first half and blamed his teammates for not getting him the ball, even Devean George who scored on a driving layup with five seconds left in the half. “Devean should have given him [Parker] the ball on the last basket. That was very inconsiderate basketball. Those are the things this team didn’t do tonight—share the basketball.”

For the Lakers, Kobe Bryant had 28 points, although he missed all five field-goal attempts and made only two of four free throws in the final quarter. Kwame Brown played a strong defensive game early against Minnesota’s Kevin Garnett and finished with a double-double—10 points and 13 rebounds.

After being held to two field goals in the first half, Garnett finished with 17 points and was game-high with 15 rebounds.

The basket that may have finished Los Angeles, however, came on a strange sequence in the fourth quarter. With the Timberwolves leading 71-67, Rashad McCants missed a shot from the corner. Although it appeared to hit the rim, the shot clock was not reset. Mark Madsen rebounded for Minnesota and got the ball to Anthony Carter, who noticed the shot clock running down. He launched a three-pointer from the top of the key—one he probably would not otherwise have taken—and the shot was good, upping the Wolves’ lead to seven points. As a result, Jackson said, “Everyone hangs their head. We just played terrible after that.”