Oh, yeah, basketball.
Even with all the attention and fascination focused on the Lamar Odom-Khloe Kardashian wedding, the purpose of the Lakers' media day Tuesday was to talk about, you know, the Lakers. And the focus in that regard was on the challenge of repeating as NBA champions, something no team has done since the Lakers' run of titles from 2000 to 2002.
"The bull's eye gets bigger after you become the champion," said Derek Fisher, "and then (so does) everything that happens, good and bad, as the defending champion, so there's more kind of scrutiny with the ups and downs of the season ....
"Even in winning 65 regular-season games last year, there were so many ups and downs and good stories and bad stories. So there'll be much more of that this year. But we plan on being better than we were a year ago. And if we're willing to put in the work to do so, the winning part will take care of itself."
Said Kobe Bryant, "It took us a long time to get here, so it's not something we want to give up because of our own inability to move forward or not take the season seriously, or focus like we did the year before. If someone's going to take it from us, we want them to take it from us with us being 100 percent focused."
Fisher and Bryant, of course, have experience in repeating their teammates lack.
"What we tell them is it's not rocket science," said Bryant. "It's the same principles we did last year. It's the same philosophy that we had: You have to come win it. We have a chance here, we have the talent to win another one, and if we don't, it's because of our lack of focus, or something else. Or an injury here and there. That's something we want to try to avoid, and try to defend our title.
But you don't have to have been part of a back-to-back title team to understand how difficult the challenge is. As Pau Gasol noted, the six teams that haven't been able to repeat are ample illustration of the point.
"That's just how hard it is," said Gasol. "If we're going to be able to repeat, we've going to start working from day one and it's going to be a great challenge. And we'll see if we can do it.
"I'm really confident about what we have here, our team, our chances, but now we have to prove it. We have to show it all over again. Everybody's going to try to beat us, try to beat that champs, and that's going to be even more challenging. And that's motivating. To me, that's a good position to be in."
Portrait of the Artest: The only significant difference between the 2009 champions and this year's team is the signing of Ron Artest, who moves into the forward slot held last year by Trevor Ariza. Artest has acknowledged that, if the Lakers don't repeat, he'll likely be blamed, and he reiterated that on Tuesday.
You know, you've got to take responsibility," he said. "You can't put it all on Kobe. "You've got to take some responsibility of your own. Obviously, this is going to be a team effort."
He was asked if the Lakers had taken a risk in changing by signing him -- a question more specifically addressing altering a championship roster than any questions of chemistry or Artest's past.
"I think there's a risk making a commitment to anybody," he said, adding -- not exactly diplomatically, given the talk of Odom's wedding -- "You can ask anybody who got married, and got divorced. Some people are paying a hundred million dollars."
What does Artest bring that the Lakers didn't have before?
"We know what a different player than he is than Trevor," said Bryant, "some of the things that they do differently from each other, but in terms of how we're going to mesh that into what we do, we're not really sure yet. It's something we'll figure out as the season goes on.
"But he'll be a huge help."
Fresh: Bryant was asked how long it had been since he'd come in to training camp as rested as he is this year, given that he'd played for the national team the last two years.
"You have to back some time," he said. "Normally when I have rest like this in the offseason, it's because of an injury or something like that. I was perfectly healthy; all I did was get healthier. So it's been a long time."
Bryant said he stayed away from playing any basketball for "a good month and a half, two months" and likes the results.
"The legs feel rejuvenated," he said. "I feel like I'm in great shape. Nothing's nagging me outside of the hand and fingers, things like that, but that's fine."

A little more from Tuesday's first round of Lakers exit interviews:

Derek Fisher's role as respected veteran leader was underlined by his appearance at Wednesday's press conference to announce plans for Wednesday's parade (and how it would be funded), reprising his call of Sunday for responsible celebration of the Lakers' championship.
A little later, he met the media after his exit interview with Phil Jackson and Mitch Kupchak, and made the somewhat surprising admission that his fourth championship, and first in seven years "feels like No. 1 to me, to be honest.
"I know this is, crazy to say, my fourth championship," he said, "but it really feels like No. 1 because of how much has happened since 2002. ...
I know the excitement I was feeling. Some of the interviews and things that I've seen, stuff on camera, I could see it in my own face, that I was just happy and excited. So it's like I've never been through this before, even though I have."
He was also asked if he had put his two crucial 3-point shots in Game 4 in perspective. He said no, but noted that an L.A. Times story ranking the top five shots in L.A. Lakers playoff history (thanks to a tie, there were actually six shots involved) had quite an impact.
"The first time I looked at it," he said, "I just saw it, and then I looked at it again and said out loud, 'I'm on here twice.' ...
"Thinking about my life and what I've been through -- not necessarily my daughter" -- who has had to battle eye cancer -- "and that, but just being born and raised in Little Rock, and to be sitting here now and have had all the experiences I've had on and off the court, it's not typical, it's not what I would have expected of myself.
"To be on that list twice, with this organization, I don't know if there's anything I can say that really justifies it or makes sense of it or whatever. I think if I try to make sense of it, it just might go away."
Someone asked if he might be pointing that article out to Kobe Bryant.
"I need a puppet, right?" Fisher responded, laughing, referring to ads featuring puppet versions of Bryant and LeBron James that ran throughout the playoffs.
Like father, like son: Luke Walton joined a unique club with his first NBA championship. He and his father Bill became just the third father-son set to win NBA titles, joining Matt Goukas Sr. (1947 Philadelphia Warriors) and Matt Goukas Jr. (1967 Philadelphia 76ers) and Rick Barry (1975 Golden State Warriors) and Brent Barry (2005 and 2007 San Antonio Spurs).
"I haven't really sat down and thought about it," said Walton. "But it's pretty awesome that it's that rare, to do it in the sport that I love playing so much."
Someone joked that it put pressure on him to have kids, and take a shot at becoming part of the first three-generation title group. This drew a huge laugh.
"That's good," he said. "I'll have kids someday: 'One of you better do it, or we're going to have problems.' "
Walton's father, who won titles in Portland and Boston, has been more or less home-bound after back surgery, but the younger Walton said he'd heard from his dad earlier Tuesday.
"I was on a radio show, and they said they had a special guest," he said. "... All of a sudden, they're like, 'It's your dad.' He started talking. No one asked him a question.
"They introduced him as a special guest, and he went on for over eight minutes about the greatness of the Lakers and Dr. Buss and Mitch Kupchak and Phil and winning a championship.
"He's doing a lot better, I think. The last couple times I talked to him, he wasn't as excited. So I don't know if it's his back feeling better or his son winning a championship, but something's making him feel a lot better."
More to come: Exit interviews will resume Thursday (with a group including Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom) and wrap up Friday with press conferences by Phil Jackson and Mitch Kupchak. Check here and in The Star for coverage of those days.

Any time a Lakers game comes down to the final shot, and Kobe Bryant doesn't take that shot, the play is going to the topic of some discussion.
So, naturally, there was a great deal of talk about Derek Fisher's unsuccessful 3-pointer from the corner at the end of Denver's 106-103 win over the Lakers in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals.
"I thought they'd foul Kobe," said Lakers coach Phil Jackson. "They were just naturally going to foul him. I thought Fisher would be open for the shot. We'd have a 3-point opportunity as opposed to having to foul and going to the free-throw line and manufacture 3-points."
It looked for a moment that, off the inbounds play with 4.3 seconds left, that Fisher would have a wide-open look. But Denver center Nene jumped out and pressured Fisher as he shot.
"I had a pretty good look at it," Fisher said. "I figured they were going to try to foul to prevent us from shooting a 3. I think I got rid of it a little quicker than I probably had to.
"Definitely, you don't want to put yourself in a position where you need that kind of shot to try and tie the game."
Nuggets coach George Karl did, indeed, want his team to foul before the Lakers could get off a 3-pointer.
"I thought Nene got caught a little bit," said Nuggets coach George Karl, "but he got out onto Fisher, trying to deny Kobe a touch. ... You can cover Kobe and he can still shoot. And if we had a chance to foul, we were going to foul. But I don't think Fisher gave us that chance."
And how did Bryant feel about being a decoy, rather than the shooter?
"I always want the ball," said Bryant. "I want the ball every play, you know what I mean? That doesn't change down the stretch, for sure.
"But Fisher has also made big shots. So he had a good look. Nene made a great play, jumped in there, got a piece of the ball. But we've seen Derek knock those shows down how many times? So I can live with that."
The non-call they'll recall: The Lakers might have avoided that situation if things had gone a little better on a jump ball with 18.6 seconds left. Pau Gasol won the tip to Trevor Ariza, but Ariza lost it to J.R. Smith as he fell to the court -- with some help, in Jackson's eyes.
"Looked to me like (Carmelo) Anthony pushed on Trevor and Trevor tried to get rid of the ball, and no foul was called and they recovered the basketball," said Jackson. "Trevor tried to get rid of it because he was afraid he was going to be called" for traveling as he fell.
Said Gasol, "Unfortunately those little plays, in a game so close, make a big difference. If it goes the other way, maybe now we could be in a different state of mind. It went the other way. What are you going to do?"
Out of nowhere: Funny how guys go from zero to hero from one game to the next in a playoff series.
Case in point: Linas Kleiza.
The Nuggets' swing man barely played seven minutes in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. His line score was all zeros, save for a foul and a steal.
Thursday, in Game 10, Kleiza played 21:41 and had 16 points and eight rebounds (all in the first half), giving Denver a significant lift from the bench.
"In Game 1, we kept their bench points down," noted Kobe Bryant. "He came in for them and gave them a big boost."
Said Nuggets coach George Karl, "Not only did he make some shots, but he got us eight rebounds in the first half and it seemed like after we got in control of rebounding, we had a lot more confidence in winning the game."
Chauncey Billups said Kleiza "was huge for us in the part of the game that they were kind of running away. They kind of had it their way, and L.K. stepped in after ... not playing very much at all in the last game and even in the last series, eh stepped in and hit some big, big shots for us. Not only that, got some huge rebounds for us."
Kleiza was 4 for 7 on 3-pointers, 4 for 8 overall.
"He made 3s to space the court better," said Karl. "... I don't think we win the game without L.K.'s wild cards. ... He gave us two wild cards. He gave us a scoring wild card and he gave us a rebounding wild card."

A few other postgame comments:
Gasol, who was 5 of 8 from the field, finishing with 17 points and 17 rebounds, on whether he needs to demand the ball more:
"I'm playing hard, as hard as I can. I'm trying to give my best effort out there. When I get the ball, I try to make good decisions and try to be aggressive. We're going to continue to be aggressive and I'm going to continue to do my job as much as I can and hopefully get a few more touches."

Lamar Odom, on the Nuggets' second-quarter run:
"The second quarter I don't' think we did a good enough job of moving the ball. It keeps your defensive energy up when you move the ball and everyone touches it, everyone gets good looks, get the big men involved. We didn't do a good job of executing and that allowed them to get back in the game, and then it was just who's making more plays."

Carmelo Anthony, on a 34-point effort -- against significantly better defensive work -- on the heels of his 39-point night in Game 1:
"You're in the mode, you're in the zone. Making shots. I tell everybody, man, scoring is something that I always can do. That's what got me to where I am right now.
"My main focus is not to score 34 or 39 points. That's not my focus."

Anthony on guarding Bryant (10 for 20, 32 points), who had guarded him successfully in Game 1:
"I challenged myself to guard the best guys, whoever I'm playing against. A guy like Kobe, man, is a tough match for anybody. He's a great player. He's a great scorer. Can put the ball in the basket at any given time. ...
"I'm telling myself just make it tough for him. I always keep a hand in his face, try to body. I know I'm bigger than him. ... If he makes a tough shot with my hand in his face, I can live with that."

Trevor Ariza may not remember it as one of his better nights defensively. Yet he will be remembered for the key defensive play in the Lakers' 105-103 win over Denver to open the Western Conference finals.
With 29 seconds left and the Lakers leading 101-99, Ariza -- who had just been subbed into the game for Luke Walton -- stepped in front of Chauncey Billups to intercept Anthony Carter's inbounds pass, allowing the Lakers to run time off the clock and eventually score on two Kobe Bryant free throws, giving them a cushion they would need at the finish.
"The guard just threw it," said Ariza. "That's all. I saw him throw it and I went to get it."
Coach Phil Jackson said some of the credit for the play had to go to Lamar Odom, who was fronting Carter on the inbounds play.
"The reason why he got the interception's probably because Carter and to make the pass over Lamar," said Jackson, "and the loop pass gave him an opportunity to speed into that ball. That was a huge play for us."
Given that Ariza had spent much of the night trying to defend against Carmelo Anthony, who scored 39 points, Odom said the play showed Ariza's "focus and resiliency.
"Carmelo had a great day scoring the ball, and for him to stay in the game, and of course it looked like it was the game-winning play, it shows character.
"We were able to get some pressure on the inbound, and they were close to a five-second call, it looked like, and Trevor did a great job of anticipating the pass and making the steal."
Bryant said the play was "terrific. It was a great read by him. You can't fault the passer in that situation, because Trevor really just made a great read and a heck of a play."
Ariza "anticipated really well," said Nuggets coach George Karl. "AC probably didn't see him and threw the ball with a little loft to it. Instead of going down, he went up. ... (I) just wish he would have called time out."
Bryant also did not fault Ariza for his work on Anthony, though it was Bryant who took over the defensive assignment on the Nuggets' star at the end.
"I felt like he did OK on Carmelo," Bryant said. "Carmelo is just a phenomenal offensive player, and Trevor hasn't had a chance to play against him too much. So I think there's some things that he'll learn from this game to carry over to the next one."
Big Fish: Derek Fisher has struggled in the postseason, and has been in the critics' bulls' eye because of it, with more than a few people asking why he was still the Lakers' starting guard.
Tuesday, he showed why.
After missing his first six shots, Fisher drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Lakers a 55-54 halftime lead, and went on to finish with 13 points and six assists in Game 1.
"He's the ultimate professional," said Kobe Bryant. "It's hard for guys when they don't get a lot of touches and are called upon to make a lot of plays (and) are not in rhythm, and all of a sudden get that ball in the corner and knock it down like they've been in rhythm all game. That's very, very tough to do."
Luke Walton said Fisher has never gotten down on himself when he's struggled.
"He's one of the most professional people I know," Walton said, "and he's in there working hard every day. He never gets down on himself and most of the time he hits big shots; he hit one at the end of the half and he hit a couple toward the end (of the game).
"That's why he's a champion, that's why he has won rings, and that's why he's one of the leaders on your team."
To coach Phil Jackson, the key play for Fisher was a tough driving layup in the third quarter.
"I think that contact got him back in the game and things started clicking for him after that," Jackson said. "(His) shots looked OK. They just weren't going in until the last shot of the first half.
"We rely on him to be part of that -- Kobe's outlet guy and a person that can make those kinds of shots. He's a big person, big part of our offense."
The Lakers had to battle from behind most of the night, but Fisher's contribution ultimately was crucial to a game they could have lost.
"A lot of things didn't necessarily go well for us," Fisher said, "but the final score was what it needed to be and that's the key for us.
"That's when your character is tested, that's when your mental toughness is tested -- when you can win games when it doesn't quite look like ... you're playing as well as you think you can play, and you still figure out a way to win. That's what we did tonight."
Clank: Ariza's steal may have been crucial, but the Nuggets were mostly bemoaning their 23-of-35 shooting at the foul line.
"I'm sitting here thinking we had a lot of chances to win the basketball game," said Anthony. "I know a lot of people came down to that steal with 30 seconds left. But us missing 12 free throws, (being outscored) 22 to 10 in second-chance points, that's a lot."
Agreed Billups: "I think we lose the game with our poor free-throw shooting throughout the game from everybody. ... We missed 12 free throws, it comes back, we lose by two points."
Said Kenyon Martin: "A couple plays here, a couple free throws there, and there's a different outcome."

Other postgame comments:
Bryant, asked for reaction to a Jerry West interview in which West indicated LeBron James, not Bryant, is now the best player in the game:
"I've been telling you guys for years that that's not something I'm concerned with at all. ... That's not my goal. That's not my mission. If I wanted to go out there and put up 35 points a night, I could do that.
"That's not my mission. My mission is to win a championship. And the debate of who is the best player, that's going to go on for whatever. That's not something I concern myself with.
"Although I love Jerry West to death, obviously everybody knows that."
In response to a follow-up question, he added:
"I'll use it as motivation, certainly. But ... for years the challenge has been winning another championship, and that's the challenge that I've accepted. It hasn't been, 'Can you stay on top as the best individual basketball player.' That's not something that's driven me. It's winning another championship.
"Although I do enjoy the challenge of having another player come along to challenge me for that top spot. That's always fun."

Billups, visibly upset on the play at the end when the Lakers fouled J.R. Smith to ensure Denver didn't get a chance for a tying 3-point attempt:
"I wish I could have got the ball. They did a good job. I couldn't get it. But I wish I could have told J.R. that they were going to foul, and when you see them come to foul, shoot the ball. Just little things that you learn through experience and through a lot of tough battles that he hasn't been in yet.
"So that's why I was disappointed -- not that I didn't get the ball, (but) that I didn't relay that knowledge to him, that savvy to him, that when he sees them coming to foul him, to try and go up and shoot the ball and get three shots."

Andrew Bynum:
"They came out and were ready to go. Obviously, they had more time to prepare for us than we did for them, but it was nice how we came out the second half and really went to work on them. ... I mean extra, extra effort. That's how we got this home win."

There is probably no Lakers player who exemplifies consistent effort more than Derek Fisher.
After the Lakers' 89-70 win over Houston in Sunday's Game 7 at Staples Center, he's hoping his teammates have figured out the need for that constant.
"I don't think at anytime we consciously went out onto the floor without that mindset," Fisher said, "but I do think we learned that if you aren't conscious about coming up and starting games aggressive and physical and being ready to play, you can get yourself into a lot of trouble. Hopefully as we move past this round and into the conference finals, that can be the one thing that we hold onto from this series that will help us not have the slippage we had in three or four of the games in this one."
Youth, Fisher suggested, had something to do with that. So did the fact that the Lakers made a relatively huge leap last year, going from one-round-and-out appearances in 2006 and 2007 to last year's berth in the NBA Finals.
"Obviously, with what we accomplished last year we just sort of shortcut some of the experience it takes to become a champion," he said. "We got to the doorstep. This year, that's not an excuse or something we're relying on and saying, 'OK, we're still young.' We want to win right now. At the same time, we're still learning that isn't easy to do. It wasn't last year because we didn't get it done. And this year, to get it done, it's not going to be easy."
Bynum bounces back: It would be easier, clearly, with Andrew Bynum playing like he did on Sunday -- mobile and agile, a force both offensively and defensively -- than at other times in a series that he conceded was "up and down -- anybody could see that.
"I just know where I can help out, and knowing what kind of minutes I'm going to get has a lot to do with it," he said. "I think we had a great couple of practices, and I was able to go out there and play well."
Jackson certainly agreed, as did Pau Gasol.
"We liked some of the things Andrew did," said Jackson. "Obviously, Andrew has a shooting touch; we'd like him to have more touches than he had." (Bynum was 6 of 7 from the field).
"The reality is he's a cleanup guy. He's a guy that's got to clean up the boards, he has to take passes that are received off drivers that are cut off at the basket and complete at the basket. He's going to have stats like he had tonight.
"The thing we want him to grasp his how active his defense has to become for him to be really the player we want him to be, and the player who can change how good defensively we are as a basketball club."
Said Gasol, "Andrew played great. His production was very, very good today. He played aggressive, he controlled the boards and he was a presence. We need that from him consistently, so I was happy to see him contribute and play hard and play with emotion. That was a big plus for us.
"We're going to need that in the next series against a front lineup that is going to be a lot bigger than Houston's."
Bynum said he and Gasol had talked with assistant coach Kurt Rambis stressing defense, "and we were able to cut down on Brooks' penetration ... They didn't get many easy layups, and I think that changed the course of the game."
Said Houston forward Shane Battier, "He's 7 foot, 300 pounds. ... It's hard to beat that size and length."
Offensively, too, the Lakers were helped tremendously by the focus on their two big men.
"We tried to put the ball inside," said Lamar Odom. "If you get Andrew and Pau going, you create shots for everyone, most likely wide open shots."

Other postgame comments from the interview and locker rooms:
Gasol, on his effort, which yielded 21 points, 18 rebounds, three blocks, a steal and an assist (along with five turnovers):
"Kobe always tells me to leave no bullet in the charger, or gun. ... As far as the energy and going after plays, holding them every single possession, stopping Brooks on all those pick-and-rolls and all that penetration, it hurt us in Houston so much, I made an effort on that to get me going that way. And it worked."

Lakers forward Trevor Ariza, on the ongoing questions about the team's inconsistency:
"We were a little stubborn. We thought we could beat teams off our talent alone. At this point in time, you can't do that. This is a tough time of the year. Everybody wants to win. They're going to step on your throats to get to where you want to go, and you have to do the same. ...
"We definitely realize that if we don't play hard, we're not going to beat anybody."

Rockets coach Rick Adelman, on the Lakers' defense and his team's offense:
"They (the Lakers) played more aggressive. That wasn't a big surprise to us that they were going to extend their defense. I thought we did some uncharacteristic things. We got a couple of shots blocked when the shots weren't even there; we crashed into their hands a couple times. That's on us.
"Usually, it's a combination of both teams. They picked their aggression up and it's not like we didn't talk about it. We should have been ready for that and we weren't. We didn't respond the way we needed to and we got down. It's hard to come back when you get down on the road, just like they found out."

Battier, with a lament not unlike that of the Lakers after Games 4 and 6:
"We knew they were going to give us their best shot, especially in the first quarter, and to be honest with you, we just didn't have the energy to match it.
"We turned the ball over, they got in transition, they got some easy buckets and we didn't move the ball well enough to make enough shots to make it a game."

Rockets guard Ron Artest, asked if his team -- which started 0 for 12 with two turnovers in its first 12 possessions -- came out tight:
"I don't' think we were tight. I just think we were maybe thinking too much. We didn't get a chance to get Shane open. We didn't get a call, we didn't get a chance to drive, and I think guys realize where we have a chance to improve. ...
"What happened was we just had an off game. They stepped up the intensity, we fumbled a little bit and they got off to a great start and kind of rode it from there."

Rockets guard Aaron Brooks on the Lakers' defense:
"They were just zoning up and we didn't react well. We couldn't make any shots and I think that was the problem. We did not make any shots in the first half. In games like this, it would have been nice to have a low-post presence."

EL SEGUNDO -- Playing in Utah is always going to be a little different for Derek Fisher, but at least it's not quite so hurtful any more.
Which isn't to say he won't get booed when the Lakers play the Jazz in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series Thursday night.
"Yeah," he said Wednesday, before the Lakers flew to Salt Lake City, "but probably not as much as the first time I went back. I think there will still be some boos there, and I think it's transitioned, though, from more of a personal boo to, you know, 'You're on the Lakers.'
"I think people have had time to deal with my not being on the team and my family transitioning away from Utah. I think that's behind everybody for the most part. Everybody knows the story, knows the deal, and now it's Jazz-Lakers."
For those who need a refresher course on the details, Fisher rejoined the Lakers last season after one year with the Jazz. That year concluded with an emotional rollercoaster when his infant daughter, Tatum, was diagnosed with a form of eye cancer, taking him away from the team during the playoffs. (In the most dramatic moment of his Utah tenure, he returned from his daughter's treatment in mid-game and helped lead the Jazz to an overtime win against Golden State.)
After that season, he was released from his contract with Utah to relocate to a city better able to address his daughter's treatment needs and signed with the Lakers -- a move that didn't go over particularly well with Jazz fans, who booed him mercilessly when he made his return to Salt Lake City with the Lakers. It was a reaction the classy veteran guard didn't expect.
"It was shocking, it caught me off guard, it was disappointing," he said. "But between the first time I went back last season to the second time, there was a huge difference, just in the way I saw it, the way I felt it. I think I had come to grips myself with the fact that there wasn't anything else that I was going to be able to say or do, and even better, I don't have to feel obligated to try to convince somebody of why we made the decision we made. I think once I got to a place where I was OK with it, it didn't really matter how other people responded.
"I think that game was good for me, personally, just to have that experience and understand that this world is not created in a way where you can please everybody, you can do things that are going to be what everybody likes for you to say or do.
"So I think it was good for me to have that experience. And I think it took probably a couple weeks after that experience to gain some understanding in terms of me understanding myself and what I was feeling. And then from there, it's been really smooth in terms of feeling comfortable with what has happened and why it happened, and that life really has moved on in a major way."
That's also true for 2-year-old Tatum -- she turns 3 in late June -- whose cancer remains in remission.
"Every eight weeks, we still have to go through the exams and the scans and the MRIs, and each time we go back, as things continue to stabilize, the doctor stretches it out a little bit," said Fisher. "It starts from every three to four weeks to four to six weeks, to six to eight weeks. Now we're at eight weeks, and as long as that pattern continues, we'll get to about 12 weeks, and then when she turns 4, if things continue to stay where they are, we'll be past that red zone in terms of the chance of the cancer returning or cancer forming in the other eye."
The estimate is that his daughter has about 50 percent vision in her left eye, although they won't really know until she's old enough to explain to doctors what she can see. "It's all just from testing, lights and different stuff like that," he said.
In other notes from Wednesday's practice:
Fatigue: Center Andrew Bynum, in his sixth game back since being sidelined by a knee injury, scored 10 points, all in a little more than seven minutes to open the game. Phil Jackson was asked what happened.
"He ran out of gas, really," said Jackson. "And they double-teamed him. They came back and double-teamed him, he missed some free throws, had some things that just didn't continue to go right for him. But he gave us a great start. ...
"It's going to happen with him. He's going to have some lapses in energy. We've got to talk a little bit about his pregame work, too, because I think he's working a little bit too hard to get ready for the game, and I think it takes something out of him during the game."
Needing more: Jackson also said he felt the Lakers weren't getting enough out of the size mismatch Pau Gasol has enjoyed against the smaller Utah lineup with Mehmet Okur sidelined by injury.
"We're not doing very well getting the ball into him," said Jackson. "He just didn't have enough touches in the second half.
"Some of that (is that) he was on the bench. I kept him on the bench for a while. I know this is going to be a grind the rest of this series, so I wanted to give him a little bit of a rest while we had a lead. But we didn't have an opportunity to use him the way we want to. ...
"We went to some other things, and Kobe got going a little bit in the second half, and he dominates the ball when he's going that well. Some of those things just didn't happen and work out for (Pau)."