http://www.galvnews.com/story.lasso?wcd=24113
Rudy Tomjanovich is feeling like a kid again. He even stays up late at night,
doodling plays in his notebook as he gets ready to begin another chapter in his
life — this time as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.
“I tell you, I’ve been like a kid getting ready to go back to school,” he
said. “I go to bed with a scratch pad, diagramming plays and things like that.
I couldn't be any more excited.”
Who wouldn't be excited, especially when you're drawing up plays for Kobe
Bryant, one of the greatest and most exciting athletes to ever play the game.
“He’s so versatile,” the 55-year-old Tomjanovich said. “I really love that
process. I’ve done it many times with the Rockets. Some of the plays go from
year to year, but a lot of times I change things to fit the personnel, and that
's what I think a coach’s job is — to put his people in an environment that's
good for them and not just take a system with me.”
Many things attracted Tomjanovich to the Lakers job — the history and the
athletes. But Tomjanovich also came to like the people running the organization
— owner Dr. Jerry Buss and general manager Mitch Kupchak.
“I had been around those guys a little bit in Europe,"he said. "I was scouting
for the Rockets. I had dinner with those guys. They were down to earth. We
didn't talk about me coaching or anything like that.”
Then when the Lakers job came open after Phil Jackson left the team, the
Lakers started showing some interest in Tomjanovich, but told him they also
were talking to Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski.
“The week with Coach K was a pretty pins-and-needles thing,” Tomjanovich said
. “After talking to those guys, I really wanted that job. I wasn’t upset or
anything. He’s a great, great coach. He's a Hall of Fame coach.”
Fortunately for Tomjanovich, Krzyzewski decided to stay at Duke. The Lakers
hired Tomjanovich on July 10. Four days later, the Lakers dealt star center
Shaquille O’Neal to the Miami Heat in exchange for Lamar Odom, Caron Butler
and Brian Grant. A day after the trade, Bryant — who had bickered with O'Neal
in the past — re-signed with the Lakers.
But the Lakers weren't through dealing. They traded Gary Payton and Rick Fox
to the Celtics for Jumaine Jones, Chris Mihm and Chucky Atkins.
Future Hall-of-Fame forward Karl Malone still hasn't decided if he'll return
to the Lakers.
Still, Tomjanovich is pleased with what he has to work with thus far.
“I’m very happy," he said.“The big trade (sending O'Neal to Miami), I knew
coming in that was a big possibility. I’m very happy that Kobe did sign, and I
also hoping Karl Malone will be with us also. That would be a dream to coach a
player like that.”
Bryant, of course, spent the final months of the NBA season shuttling back
and forth between game sites and Colorado. A Colorado hotel worker had accused
him of raping her — Bryant admitted having sex with the woman but said it was
consensual — but the suit was recently dismissed because she refused to testi-
fy.
The situation didn't stop Bryant from leading the Lakers to the NBA Finals
last season, where they fell to the Detroit Pistons in five games.
“Just watching him play last year, I don't know how he did it,” Tomjanovich
said. “He started working out right after the charges were dropped. (He has)
an unbelievable work ethic. I have never seen a player put that much time in
doing the little things. He wore out one assistant coach. I had to get another
guy, almost a tag-team, to go in there, but he just wouldn't quit.”
Yet you have to wonder if Bryant can ever win. He and O'Neal didn't seem to
get along. Teammates and media complained he either did too much or didn't do
enough.
“People are always going to critique things,” Tomjanovich said. “All I know
is that the guy is a tremendous basketball player, and he has to be considered
to have a chance to be called the best basketball player ever just on what heꄊs done already, and he just turned 26-years-old.
“I'd like to be a part of that growing process with him and help him reach
that goal by us winning and him performing well. There’s going to be a lot of
opinion. That’s what sports is all about. Now it’s time to go out and do it
and prove it.”
Despite all the changes, Tomjanovich will be under pressure to lead the
Lakers to more titles — and soon. That's fine with him.
“A lot of people say we won't even make the playoffs,” he said. “I just try
to use it as fuel to get our team going. I feel good about our team. I haven't
seen everybody together. I don’t even know what the final product is. I don’t
know if Karl Malone is coming, so it’s hard to predict.
“But I know predictions are meaningless. What's important is getting in there,
getting some chemistry, getting everybody on the same page and working with a
system that becomes our system for our team, our own language, our own plays,
the way we defend things. That's what this thing is all about to me. That takes
time. Of course, we want it to happen right away. Everybody does.”
“I still think I’ve got a lot of fight in me, and I have another great
opportunity with a great player like Kobe and Odom and those guys and a great
organization,” he said. “We’ve got a heck of challenge in front of us — and
I love that.”
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