Not that there isn't work to be done.  Kobe mentioned more than once the challenges LA will face defensively against teams (like Detroit) with bigs who can step away from the basket and spread the floor, a sentiment echoed by Phil Jackson: "We really have to stay in front of the penetration.  That's our big key, and we worked on that a little today.  About not getting spread out, not getting the penetration that teams want.  Recovering back the players that we have to man-cover.  This has been a perennial problem for us as a team, and we're going to have two guards who do that very well in (Derrick) Rose and (Steve) Nash here in the next two games." 

Most strategies in sports are a series of trade offs, and defense in basketball is no exception.  No scheme is free of weaknesses.  The goal for the Lakers is to keep the other team as far away from the bucket as possible, even if that means conceding more shots from outside. 

"The biggest thing is to stop penetration.  That's the key in this game as it is in most sports game.  You're trying to get to a goal, and the closer that ball gets to the goal the worse you are defensively," he said, presumably lumping in hockey's puck with other ball/goal sports.  "So if you can keep that ball out and make guys shoot (from distance), that's always a positive," Jackson said. 

Meanwhile, in reaction to the Q and A with Shaq posted a few days back on the Sacramento Bee Kings Blog, a particularly zealous young newsie peppered the available personnel about their reaction to the news that Shaq wouldn't rule out a return to LA in 2010,  Kobe just smiled, and said nothing.  Pressed, he kept smiling and saying nothing.  "I'm going Tiger Woods, totally vanilla."  No way he was going to say anything that might feed the tabloids, so to speak. 

Phil's reaction was equally whimsical.  "He's keeping his options open, huh?"  As for the notion that all the drama was fun, as Shaq proposed, PJ didn't disagree... though I doubt he'd choose today to be totally candid and forthcoming with the media on this issue (i.e. "fun" may not totally be the right word to describe what was going on in the Threepeat era).  "We were having a lot of fun as a team.  I think that was just a laugh and a goof.  That part of it was fun.  2004 got a little tense. That was a tighter time for us." 

For his part, Fish LOL'd and used the question as a way to hustle into the training room ahead of the meeting. 

OTHER NOTES:

• Vlad Rad, who suffered a thigh contusion Sunday, practiced today and should be good for tomorrow. 
• On PT:  PJ said LO understands there will be nights, such as Friday's game, where he won't get what seems to be his standard 30-ish minutes of run.  "Ballplayers understand.  When teams are going well, they want to be part of it, but they know that you don't want to slow down something that's positive.  For Luke Walton, who has essentially vanished from the rotation, Jackson acknowledged that it's been a tough adjustment for him.  "I think he understands mentally, but emotionally I think it's real tough.  You want to be out there on the floor.  That's the hard part."
• Pete Newell, legendary educator of bigs and former Lakers GM, passed away today.  Dr. Buss released the following statement:

“We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Pete Newell earlier today,” said Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss.  “Pete was one of the most brilliant teachers and coaches the game has ever known, and was also an exceptional front office man as the Lakers General Manager from 1972-76.  He was a great help to me when I first purchased the Lakers and he was very generous with his time and counsel.  In addition to his great contributions to the basketball world, Pete was also one of the finest gentlemen we’ve known.  Our deepest condolences, thoughts and prayers go out to the Newell family.”

Audio and video to follow later (UPDATE: The video is below).

BK