Early on this season, Derek Fisher has logged the fifth-most minutes on the Los Angeles Lakers, playing almost 29 minutes a game.
Head coach Phil Jackson thinks that’s a bit too much. So, in an attempt to keep the veteran fresh for the entire season, Phil announced this week that he’ll be keeping a close eye on Derek’s minutes.
“Fish, I’m trying to keep his minutes under 30 and want to keep him under 25,” Jackson told the L.A. Times. “Because we’re not playing well in the other areas, we’re going to have to work that out a little bit as we go along.”
While Fish certainly likes seeing the court, he’s more than willing to do whatever his coach feels necessary.
“I don’t work as hard as I work in the summer to sit on the side,” D-Fish said. “But whatever it takes for us to be successful is what I’m prepared to do.”
 Phil Jackson wants to make sure he doesn’t overuse Derek (Getty Images). |
That doesn’t mean Fish believes he can’t handle the load. He conditions himself all offseason so he can do just that:
“If it’s a situation where you have to come back to finish a game or if it’s 20 minutes
[of playing time] and the game is over and the ice is on the knees, I’m fine by that as well,” Fisher said. “Either way. But as far as physically what I’m capable of doing, I can play as many minutes as we need me out there on the floor.”WATCH ME BALL
When the Lakers played the Oklahoma City Thunder last week, Derek was in the midst of and matched up with an admirer of his.According to the NewsOK, when Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks took his young point guard, Russell Westbrook, out to dinner after last year’s regular season ended, he got distracted by the way a certain Lakers point guard was defending in a playoff game.
“A nearby television aired a Los Angeles Lakers playoff game. Brooks, noticing a plain but pesky trait in Lakers lead guard Derek Fisher’s defensive tactics, postponed the conversation and promptly transformed into teacher mode.
Brooks wanted Westbrook to watch how the veteran point guard applied full-court pressure, how he caused chaos for his man with his physical play.
“The rest of our dinner was about that,” Brooks said.”
Despite the tutorial, D-Fish still got the best of Westbrook and the Thunder in the Lakers 101-98 win. Westbrook scored only 12 points, well below his season average and D-Fish dropped in nine points with three steals.
HOW BOUT THEM COWBOYS?
When Kobe Bryant appeared on the new talk show George Lopez Tonight, Kobe decided, after his interview with the host, to take some questions from the crowd.Out of nowhere arrived an unexpected heckler: D-Fish.
Fish, an Arkansas native, asked Bryant, from Philadelphia, if he recalled who won Sunday night’s Eagles-Cowboys game. Bryant, embarrassed by his home team’s loss, told D-Fish that he had “convenient amnesia.”
You can watch the video on DerekFisher2.com.
NEXT UP
D-Fish heads back to practice today in preparation for the Phoenix Suns on Thursday, Nov. 12 at the Staples Center. TNT will have the broadcast with a 7:30 PST tip-off.RELATED ARTICLES
Oklahoma City Thunder Getting Defensive (NewsOK, Nov. 10, 2009)
http://www.newsok.com/thunder-getting-defensive/article/3416014?custom_click=pod_lead_nba-thunder
Lakers Coach Phil Jackson Looking to Limit Derek Fisher’s Minutes (L.A. Times, Nov. 10, 2009)
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-lakers-fyi10-2009nov10,0,3219273.story