LOS ANGELES -- I have long been a fan of Lamar Odom the person, one of the nicer guys you will ever meet, in professional sports or anywhere else. Odom the player can be a more frustrating proposition, because he always seems capable of more than he does.
But it would be very difficult to find fault with Odom now, either in his impact with the Lakers or how he's handling his moves from the bench to the starting lineup and (probably) back.
Odom was a huge factor in the Lakers' 107-96 win over Utah on Monday to close out the first-round series. He finished with 26 points, 15 rebounds, four assists and three blocks, offset only by three turnovers. That gave him 36 points and 30 rebounds in his two starts at the end of the series, which probably won't be enough to retain a spot in the starting lineup. Coach Phil Jackson said he would "more than likely" put Andrew Bynum back in the starting lineup against either Portland or Houston.
"That gives us a big lineup," said Jackson. "I think we're pretty good with that lineup. We've done some good things over the course of the year, even after he came back (from his injury). ...
"Lamar's playing great, but his effort off the bench is going to be very important to us. It gives us a whole different arrangement to how we play."
No big deal, said Odom.
"It makes no difference," he said. "Obviously you can see that now, in my game, in my rhythm. I'm here to do whatever it takes to win, and that's to create positive energy. So it's too late in the season for me to take that personal, or pout."
And, he said, there's no difference in preparation, regardless of his role.
"I feel good," he said. "I'm in the prime of my career. I'm handsome. I'm pretty." (Yes, he did laugh as he said that.)
Odom averaged 17.8 points, 11 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.6 blocks in the Utah series, after regular-season averages of 11.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.3 blocks.
"He's a versatile player," said Pau Gasol. "There's no doubt about that. He's been a little bit up and down. He's not extremely comfortable coming off the bench, and probably not as productive as he is as a starter, as with probably the majority of players in this league. ...
"No matter what lineup, he's going to help, because of his skills, his knowledge of the game. He knows how to play, he attacks all the power forwards because of his ball handling and speed and skill set. So he's a guy that can contribute in different ways. He's got his confidence up now, and he's got to take advantage of it."
So do the Lakers, because Odom is so unique in his mix of size and skills.
"Lamar, you can drop him anywhere," said Kobe Bryant, "and he's going to be effective, going to be productive. And that's what makes him so valuable. He can come off the bench. He can play four positions. His rebounding's a big key for us, and his shooting. He's been shooting the ball really well. And defensively he's been guarding a multitude of players.
"He's a big key for it."
That's been true throughout the season, but it was certainly true against Utah.
What they said: A variety of other postgame reactions from Monday night:
Jackson, on the team's play in the series, and the finale:
"I think we played well. Offensively, we had some really good games. I thought we played spotty defense tonight. I liked our defense for the first three quarters: Good hands, tipping the ball, getting runouts kind of broke the game open. We didn't close the door.
"We had four guys off the bench with Kobe at the start of the fourth quarter, and they just couldn't sustain the effort. ...
"I told them in the locker room we have to improve as we go forward."
Trevor Ariza, who started despite spraining his ankle in Game 4 and had 12 points, seven rebounds, four assists, a steal, two blocks and four turnovers in 27:29:
"That's what my team needed me to do. I try to do everything I can to help my team win. ...
"We're happy that we got the win, but I don't think we're happy about how we won, so we have to pay attention and stay focused on closing games out."
Jazz center Mehmet Okur, on Utah's late comeback bid:
"It was a little bit too late 'cause they had a 20-point lead. We just wanted to come out there in the fourth, just bring our 'A' game. We should've started the game like that. It was a must-win game for us. For some reason, we just couldn't start like that."
Jazz guard Deron Williams, on the physical play at the end of the game:
"It is what it is. It happens out there. You've got to take your hat off to those guys (the Lakers) though. They came out, they had a game plan, they were a focused team and they executed their game plan."
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, unhappy with his team's early effort, calling it "fair at best":
"I was surprised it took something like Ronnie Price's effort to bring us back alive out there. I have never seen a guy play that hard in my life, in that situation. ...
"Ronnie Price gave us some tremendous play in order to help us get there (back within five after trailing by 22). Had we set screens like that all night, we would have gotten a lot easier shots. If we'd done it like that in the whole series, we'd have gotten better shots."
No Luke: Prior to the game, the Lakers announced that Luke Walton was out indefinitely after an MRI discovered a partially torn ligament in his left ankle. Walton said he'd suffered the injury in the third quarter of Game 4 and kept playing, but "it just got worse and worse. By the time we landed (on the flight home), it was killing me. So I got an MRI this morning, and they said I've got to shut it down for a while.
"It's frustrating, it sucks, but it happens. So I'll deal with it, and treat it, and hope to get back out there."
Walton said he "absolutely" expects to play in the second round.
He called the way the injury occurred "weird.
"I stopped to make a pivot, and felt my bone kind of shift. It didn't even roll over. The bone kind of shifted out and came back, and they said when that happened, it tore part of the ligament. ...
"It's a dull, throbbing pain. And obviously, when I try to push off it, it turns to sharper. But it already feels better today than yesterday. So we'll see what (trainer) Gary Vitti can do."

EL SEGUNDO -- It was another of those vintage Kobe Bryant performances, but it was also the first one in a while.
And so Bryant's 38-point effort in Saturday's game at Utah -- a 108-94 victory giving the Lakers a 3-1 lead in their first-round playoff series with the Jazz -- remained a major topic of conversation Sunday, along with the opportunity to complete the series Monday night at Staples Center.
Bryant scored the Lakers' first 11 points, had 24 at halftime on 10-of-13 shooting and was 6 for 11 during a third quarter that saw the Lakers outscore Utah 28-16 to take a hammerlock on both the game and series. He finished 16 of 24 from the field.
It was the most points in a game for Bryant since a 49-point effort in a Feb. 26 loss at Phoenix, and a distinct change from the Lakers' 88-86 loss in Game 3, when he was just 5 of 24.
It was right after that game, Bryant said, that he knew he'd be more aggressive from the start in Game 4.
"I just felt like I needed to get going a little bit," he said, "and put teams on their heels a little bit more. ..
"I was operating in a space where it was harder for them to double-team me. I wasn't 30 feet from the basket. I was getting good screens, getting the ball in the deep post position and operating from there.
"I just changed my game up a little bit, got a little closer to the basket, and got into the spots where I operate from."
This was not an individual effort, he pointed out.
"You've got to have your teammates set it up for you," he said. "In this day and age you do, with the zone and all that stuff, scorers don't really have that much space to operate. You have to rely a lot on your teammates to get you open in terms of isolating -- you know, penetrate and create."
Still, there were times when the Jazz -- in particular, Ronnie Brewer -- appeared to be playing Bryant about as tough defensively as is possible, and he still made shots.
"Once you get into a rhythm, it feels like everything's going to go on, and you just have to look at the basket, once you get into that kind of groove," he said. "And that's what happened for me. Some of those shots, they were playing great defense. I just felt really good. ...
"You just throw it up there, and it's going to go in. That's what it felt like."
Bryant led the charge and the rest of the Lakers followed.
"I think the game we lost, Game 3, it hurt pretty bad," said Pau Gasol, second in scoring with 13 points, "because we kind of felt like we gave away a chance to really take a huge advantage in the series. So we had to kind of make up for it, and Kobe set us up from the beginning, starting really hot, and we all tuned into it."
Bryant was questioned in some quarters for not starting more aggressively earlier in the series, although that didn't keep the Lakers from 62- and 66-point first halves in the first two games of the series, and double-digit leads in all three games.
So it probably wasn't surprising that coach Phil Jackson wanted to temper the enthusiasm over Bryant's performance.
"It's interesting that with all the points Kobe came out and hit 'em with a barrage," said Jackson, "we were still behind at the end of the first quarter. It shows the important of a bench coming out and playing with the kind of freedom and passion defensively and offensively that is important for us to have."
The Lakers trailed 25-20 after one quarter, but outscored Utah 40-28 in the second, when the reserves generally get their largest slice of playing time.
And Jackson felt the biggest reason the Lakers didn't let Utah back in the game -- after frittering away most of 20-point leads in the first two games, and surrendering a 13-point advantage in Game 3 -- was defensive.
"Someone remarked to me ... that when we got a lead in the third quarter and we felt like we could score on a team [in the earlier games], our defense relaxed," Jackson said. "We really tried to make an emphasis on that, that defensively, you just can't think, 'Oh, offensively, everything's going to just go great; now we're just going to be in cruise control and get away with all this.'
"The defense still has to step up, and I think that stayed."

The thing about writing a column from an NHL playoff game is that you always have to be aware that the game will go multiple overtimes and last far beyond even the latest newspaper deadline. So it's usually a good idea to have something in hand you can send to fill the space in the paper if that should occur.
This is the column I had ready to go Thursday, just in case the Ducks and Sharks had played a game that was still going at deadline.

ANAHEIM -- A strange thing happened as I bounced from the NBA playoffs to the NBA postseason: It became hard to tell them apart.
After dropping in on the Ducks' morning skate Thursday, I felt remarkably like I was back at the Lakers' practice facility in El Segundo 24 hours earlier.
No, it's not that all the games start running together. And obviously, the Ducks' locker room has no seven-footers, and the Lakers don't have Canadian accents.
But in listening to the Ducks talk about their preparations for Thursday night's playoff series with San Jose -- the series the Ducks led 2-1 going into Game 4 -- it was hard not to hear echoes of the Lakers talking about Utah.
Consider Ducks forward Corey Perry, talking about the desire to establish early control in Game 4.
"We have to have a strong start," Perry said. "We have to be physical, we have to get on the forecheck and we have to stay out of the penalty box and limit our turnovers."
Later, he added, "Just take them out of their rhythm. If we take them out of their rhythm and be physical, we'll be successful."
Compare that to what Pau Gasol had to say about the challenge the Lakers were going to face in their first road game of the Utah series.
"It's going to be hard," said Gasol, "but I think if we come out of the locker room and jump on them early and try and control the tempo of the game, and don't let them get comfortable and get going in their usual stuff, I think we can be successful there."
In the Ducks' locker room, you had Todd Marchant saying Thursday's game would come down to "execution and effort, basically. Last game, we didn't have quite the same effort and execution we had in Game 2."
In the Lakers' post-practice media session Wednesday, you had Lamar Odom saying, "We're going to come out, play a little harder than we played yesterday, focus, try to do everything right."
In Anaheim, there was Teemu Selanne talking about the fact that Thursday's game was the 10th between the Ducks and Sharks.
"Obviously, we've played them so many times," said Selanne. "So there's no secrets. ... I think it's just battle -- who wants to win more. That's how it works."
In El Segundo, before the first-game of the Lakers-Jazz series, Phil Jackson was saying something similar, since the Lakers finished the regular season against Utah, then had five days to prepare to face the Jazz again.
"I don't think we can say a whole lot more about them other than just to say, go out, you've got all the information, now put it into play," he said. "It's all about reactions now. It's all about instincts and reactions."
You play these teams again and again and again, things are going to begin to look really familiar. Which is, of course, where the coaches start putting their stamp on things. They need to make them less familiar -- and more successful.
And so, with that in mind, you hear this:
"You have to make adjustments continually, and some of them are in-game and some of them are between, day to day. We try to review some of the things we felt we didn't do very well, and we'll try to correct some of those things."
And this:
"We have to anticipate (adjustments). And that's really the key, I think, in the playoffs, anticipating what the other team is going to do."
The first of those comments was from Ducks coach Randy Carlyle. The second was from Phil Jackson. But they could just as easily have been reversed.
All of which suggests more than mere coincidence. The cynically inclined might say it means all athletes work from the same book of clichés, but it's a bit deeper than that.
What this really points to is the degree that there are certain constants in all sports -- the importance of defense, say, or consistent effort. And hockey and basketball, in particular, share more characteristics than the casual onlooker might perceive, even down to certain structural concepts of movement, given that in each, five players are always moving toward a goal. It's just that in hockey, a sixth player guards that goal.
The parallels become even greater at playoff time, when teams in both sports must adjust to playing the same opponent repeatedly is a challenge distinct from that of the regular season. (To quote Jackson: "During the regular season, you want to maintain and sustain an effort. Now you improve.")
And so, as long as the Lakers and Ducks continue in the postseason, you probably shouldn't be surprised if you continue to hear parallel comments from both teams.
Ultimately, they're both in the business of winning and losing. And there are only so many ways to do those things.
-- Contact David Lassen at dlassen@VenturaCountyStar.com.

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)."

What they were saying after the Lakers' 119-109 win over Utah in Tuesday's Game 2 of their first-round playoff series:

The Lakers
Phil Jackson's initial postgame remarks:
"An offensive display. Not always great ball handling, but a lot of great shooting and scoring out there tonight. ... That's a good win. It's hard to beat a team three times in succession and that was a trial out there for us tonight."

Jackson, on holding on after the Jazz cut the lead from 20 points to three:
"We tried to cork the lane a little bit but they shot 3-pointers well (8 of 19). I think it was turnovers more than anything else. There isn't a lot of defense for turnovers when you throw the ball away that many times."
The Lakers had 34 points off 20 Utah turnovers; Utah had 19 points off 21 Lakers turnovers.

Jackson, on the play of the bench:
"Lamar (Odom) had a big game off the bench. I thought Shannon (Brown) played fine. If we need guys to step in, we get an assist like tonight. We have to have a bench that supports the starters.
"I changed the rotation a bit in the third and fourth quarters. Kobe wanted to stay in so I left him in the game, and that shortened our bench this time."
Odom had 19 points and Brown scored 12, helping the Lakers to a 37-28 edge in bench scoring.

Pau Gasol, on the start:
"Well, it was a great start on our part and I think the energy was excellent. We were playing really well, making shots and coming up with defensive stops. It was the right start. We needed that start to get ourselves going and make sure we got a nice early lead so we could avoid trouble down the stretch."

Gasol, on the finish:
"It was a little surprising, I guess, to see them that close, so close at the end. But they have a good quality team. They played well. They fought all the way through."

Trevor Ariza, on the way the Lakers have been giving up leads:
"I don't think we gave it up to them. We didn't give up any leads. They cut into it, but we didn't give it up."

Andrew Bynum, on the need to improve defensively:
"Most definitely, we are going to have to change what we are doing on defense, because obviously they are reading it and picking it apart."

Bynum, on trying to contain Deron Williams, who had 35 points and nine assists:
"He definitely was (good) tonight and we have to figure out a way to stop that. In Utah, I think it will be different -- out there, they'll get even more calls than they did tonight. ... And the team is going to be hotter just because the crowd is going to be into it for them."

The Jazz
Coach Jerry Sloan, on the team's problems early relative to its late run:
"One of the things that caused us not to have the opportunity to do that was the number of turnovers we had. I think we gave up 30 points at the end of three quarters. ... We came down the stretch and the turnovers broke our back.
"We had a chance to be in the ballgame in the third quarter a couple of times and then we turned the ball over. That's when you have to have patience and try to get a good shot so you have a chance to hopefully rebound. We just got too anxious, I guess."

Sloan, on what the team takes away from Los Angeles:
"I think we were a better team playing with them than we were to start with. I think that's the No. 1 thing you have to take away. I think we're playing harder and you have to learn how to play hard, and then you start making your shots better, you get into a rhythm of playing hard and being able to shoot better."

Sloan, on the match-up problems with the Lakers:
"With the people we have right now we just don't have a lot of length and we've gone to a smaller lineup to try to combat that. That's dangers to do. If we get everybody playing hard and guys driving to the basket, we come off our man instead of letting them drive the ball to the basket. We've got to be more aggressive that way."

Deron Williams, on Utah's belief it could come back:
"We were pretty confident. We had a little roll going. We just turned the ball over at the wrong time and it kind of led to a snowball effect. One turnover led to another and they made us pay."

Williams, on Sloan's comment that the team got anxious when it had some opportunities:
"That's a little bit of my fault. I'm the point guard on the floor. I have to step up and calm everybody down, make sure we get something every time we get down on the floor so that turnovers don't happen. We get a little frantic out there and they pick up their defense to get a basket to even the score, and it cost us the ballgame."

Carlos Boozer, rating Utah's performance:
"At the end of the day I think we played a lot better in Game 2 than we did in Game 1. We still got down by a lot early but we were able to fight back. We had chances to win it in the fourth quarter. I think we cut it down to a single possession, two possessions. They just made plays."

Boozer, on the Lakers' start:
"They do a good job of coming at you early and trying to blow you out early. They are a very efficient team. They run their cuts hard, they make shots and they play good defense. For us, we need to try to combat that, make them work a little harder, hopefully make them miss a couple more shots."

What they were saying after the Lakers' 113-100 win over Utah in Sunday's playoff opener:

The Lakers
Coach Phil Jackson, on his team's lackluster second half:
"I thought we played relatively good defense first half, and the second half ... foul after foul after foul, rebounds, offensive rebounds, those are the things we harped on all week about having to watch that particular aspect of our game."

Shannon Brown, who played more than 21 minutes and saw a whole lot of Utah's Deron Williams (16 points, 17 assists):
"Deron's a great point guard, man, and he's going to do what he has to do for his team to win. And my job is to go out and make that as hard as possible.
"But he has a triple threat. As long as he's not getting off and his teammates aren't getting off -- we've got to contain one or the other."

Brown (nine points, two rebounds, three assists, two turnovers), who has moved past Jordan Farmar as first guard off the bench:
"I'm feeling great. I'm just trying to go out and do what I've got to do to help the team win. The thing with my teammates and our coaches, they have a lot of confidence in me. If they don't put me in, I can't perform.
You've got to have confidence in your abilities, especially in this game. Because if you don't, you get eaten alive out there. There's a bunch of wolves out there."

Kobe Bryant (24 points, four rebounds, eight assists), on Brown:
"He works extremely hard, as all our players do. You know, he's in the gym early; he's working on his shot. When I see that, it makes it even easier for me to trust him in a game situation."

Andrew Bynum (seven points, three rebounds, a steal, two turnovers and five fouls in 20:26) on what he learned going forward:
"My mindset going in is that I'm going to be a lot more aggressive in the next game. I'm going to play a lot more out there. Even though I did get into foul trouble this game, I'm going to look at the tape, see what happened out there, and try to adjust."

The Jazz
Coach Jerry Sloan, on the start:
-- "We shot 48 shots in the first half and ended up shooting 36 percent, I believe. [17 of 48, 35.4 percent] Some of those were makeable shots, but they're leaving us open for a reason, because we're not great shooters out there. And we took some of those shots, I guess, just to try to prove we could make a shot, and consequently, they didn't go down for us."
-- "We kind of looked like deer in the headlights to start off with. I was really kind of shocked that we would play that way, but some of our guys are young guys, and hopefully they'll learn. We have to play four games, and hopefully we'll get better each time we play 'em, and we'll see what happens."
-- "It wasn't about running an offense. We have a tendency to think, 'I've got to get me a couple of shots in the ballgame, so I can get my numbers right away.' Well, that didn't work very well. And that doesn't go very well for us to have a chance to win.
"You have to execute somewhat of an offense. Otherwise it's mashed potatoes out there, and you don't have anything. And that's what we ended up with."

Sloan, on the Lakers' size advantage:
"We're obviously short out there to start with, and then we get shorter when we have to substitute. And they're a big, long team anyway, and we can't seem to make our guys any taller. If I could do that, maybe we'd be a little bit better off."

Sloan, on the Lakers' 55.6-percent shooting:
"The fact is they scored 55 points in the paint. I think a lot of that has to do with their size and their physical ability to take advantage of you. And we've got to do a better job of trying to help each other. We got caught in between a few times, and that gives them an opportunity to get on top of the basket."

Sloan, on his team's personality:
"We're not a nasty team. Most of the teams we've had here have been pretty nasty in that they'll get after you from daylight to dark. We're just learning how to get after it a little bit more as we go along with younger guys. And part of that's my fault. I take full responsibility for that, because I probably haven't been nasty enough with 'em. ...
"Deron Williams has played a major role in the playoffs, and a couple of other guys have not been in those situations to know, you know, how late we were so many times in trying to get over and get help, trying to stand guys up and play the game where you don't let them run with a tuxedo on all the time."

Matt Harpring (eight points, one assist in 14:35):
"You can't get down twenty-something points at halftime and try to make a comeback on the road in the playoffs. We played harder and focused on our offense, but we found ourselves in the first half sometimes at a place, not knowing our position at offense or on defense. That's just inexcusable in the playoffs."

Paul Millsap (15 points, eight rebounds, one assist, one turnover in 25:15 off the bench) on defense:
"We have to be physical as a team, put the pressure on the refs and be strong while we're down there. I feel good about the second half. The second half was great. You're seeing guys down there banging, working and helping each other out on defense.
"It starts on the defensive end. We can't give up 65 points like we did in the first half [actually, it was 62] and expect to win a game on the road. If we can get that down pat and play solid defense the first two quarters and the last two quarters, we'll be all right."

One of the unique things about the Cal Lutheran women's water polo team -- currently ranked No. 2 in Division III, and hosting No. 1 Occidental today at 5 p.m. -- is the number of top-level Division I programs on its schedule.
The Regals (14-12, 5-0 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) played seven schools in the preseason top 20, including four of the current top eight -- UCLA, Cal, San Jose State and Arizona State.
"We always tease the basketball coaches," says CLU coach Craig Rond, "when we're playing the big girls, (saying) 'Well, it would be like you going and playing UCLA this afternoon. That's what we're going to do.' And they laugh."
That's not exactly the reaction of Rond's players.
"A lot of us thought our coach was crazy, initially," recalls junior Joy Cyprian, one of the CLU captains. "I was actually board when I looked at our schedule initially ... and I couldn't believe it. I didn't know what to say.
"Personally, it's really hard, because I never like playing a team that is really below our talent, because it makes me feel bad. ... And I even more so don't like being that team."
Not surprisingly, there's a method to the madness.
"It's another note I took from some of the more elite Division III schools," says Rond, recalling the birth of the program in 2004. "I started looking at who they were playing and said, 'Gosh, the top SCIAC schools, when you look at the early season, they all have kind of crummy records. But they're all playing really tough Division I and Division II schools to get ready for SCIAC."
This is feasible -- in a way it wouldn't be for, say, the CLU football or basketball teams -- for a couple of reasons. One is that, since women's water polo remains a relatively young sport, the gap between the programs, while significant, is not impossibly large. The other relates to the very nature of the sport.
"This is not football, where your playbook is 300 pages long," says Rond. "Water polo is a very fundamental-first sport. You can take a couple of pages from the national team, and there's not a whole lot of difference from what the 14-and-unders are trying to accomplish. ...
"There's not a lot of secrets. You know what's coming. And the difference between Division I and Division III, really in any sport but particularly for us, is size and speed. You know what it is you're trying to do, but you have a girl in there that's 6-foot-2, and you're trying to defend her at 5-foot-5."
Junior Meredith Butte, who played at Cal before transferring to CLU, notes one of the big differences between the levels is that the Division I programs essentially go year-round, while Division III water polo is basically a four-month undertaking.
"In regards to playing in the pool ... the way that Coach Rond runs his practice is very similar to a Division I school," says Butte. "He's implementing the same kinds of tactics, and intensity, and drills, and I think that's why we're so successful. We don't give ourselves the excuse, 'Oh, we're just a D-3 team."
So each side can understand what the other is doing, even if one is going to be able to do it at a very different level. Not surprisingly, CLU was 0-7 against those ranked teams, but the Regals still believe they benefited from the experience.
"Our schedule has been incredibly challenging," says Rond, "but we've done it with a pretty good balance. We'll go to a tournament, and there are two teams that we are just not even going to be able to compete with but can learn a lot from, and then balance that with the two teams that we can take what we learned against the big girls or big boys" -- CLU's men play Division I opponents, as well -- "and be successful against the Division IIs and Division IIIs."
Butte notes, "no one likes to go into games knowing that you probably don't have that great of a chance of winning. But if you kind of step back and look at the perspective of things ... you're literally getting to play Olympians. ...
"I think our first big D-I game was Cal, where I first went to school. And going in there, it's OK; maybe we're a little slow. And then next game, we played UCLA, and we picked it up a little more, and then we played Northridge, and picked it up a little more.
"It kind of forces the team to start reacting quicker and start playing on a D-I pace. And to tell you the truth, once we slowed the game down and played the way we know how to play, there really wasn't too much difference other than the speed and size of the girls. Tactically, I believe a lot of our players could probably match up fairly well."
Says Cyprian, "It's a huge learning experience. You don't learn how to play against someone who's 6-2 on your own team. ... But at the end of the day, it's supposed to be fun. And when you get to score -- I remember scoring against UCLA and I was very happy about that, that I was able to accomplish something. So when I see my teammates do that, you know, you realize that you really are doing something right, that our coaches are teaching us the right things."
And now that CLU is in the all-Division-III part of the schedule, the dividends are even more obvious.
"We heard it the other day they got out against a Division III opponent," notes assistant coach Matt Warshaw. "One of our girls said, 'Gosh, all those girls seem really small.' And we said, 'Well, yeah. You're used to playing the UCLA team. There's seven Olympians on that UCLA roster. So you basically played Team USA on Saturday, and then on Sunday, you played a Division III team and had a level playing ground."
The two teams: While the women's team has raced to prominence, the men's water polo program has had a more gradual climb. This year's 14-13 season was the first winning record for the six-year-old program, which reached the championship game of the SCIAC tournament before falling to Pomona-Pitzer 12-9.
In one respect, the men's program does not have the same opportunity for success as the women: Because of an insufficient number of programs, there's not a separate Division III championship.
"The man haven't had that one avenue," says Rond, "where maybe the can get a piece of the pay and put that ring on and say, look, we've accomplished something. ... They have to get it done at the Division I level."
But there are other reasons the men's program has grown more slowly, Rond says.
"Certainly, there were far more men's programs at the top," he says, noting the more established nature of men's water polo, "and trying to peck away at them has been a little tougher. And then, honestly, the guys were a little slower to come around to some of our philosophies. But I think they're starting to finally appreciate our philosophies, and what it is we're trying to teach. So they've been behind the women all the way."
But as both teams have grown, they've also grown in their support and respect for each other.
"We weren't very competitive," says Rond, "so neither one really had a desire to watch the other one compete. But now that the teams have these natural rivals in SCIAC, the guys like to see the girls beat those rivals, and the girls like to come out and see the guys beat those rivals. Because there's a little bad taste. There's blood. ...
"It's just coming of age this year, now that the women have been in a SCIAC championship game and had the bad taste of an awful one-goal loss. They want to see the guys get revenge for them. And the guys have now been in the SCIAC championship game and have the bad taste of a three-goal loss, and they want to see the women get revenge for them.
"And it's been fun to see all that, because that is also part of the master plan, to have these two groups really just respect each other. ... And I think they do, finally."

There are baseball games that get to the final out, and as a writer, you're still thinking, "What the heck am I going to write about?"
The Dodgers' home opener, Monday's 11-1 win over San Francisco, was definitely NOT one of those games.
I ended up columnizing on Orlando Hudson, given that his cycle was the first by a Dodger in 39 years and first for a Dodger at Dodger Stadium, among other distinctions.
On another day, I might have written about Andre Ethier, who homered twice and drove in four runs.
But in the long term, the most significant performance might have been that of starting pitcher Chad Billingsley, who pitched seven innings of five-hit ball, allowing one earned run while striking out 11 and walking none. He threw 106 pitches, 67 of them strikes.
You'd be hard-pressed to say the Dodgers have a clear-cut No. 1 starter, but Billingsley may be changing that. Last year, he was 16-10 with a 3.14 ERA, but the more impressive stat is this: Since June 17 of last year, he's 14-3. He's now won six straight decisions, last losing Aug. 25 at Philadelphia.
Not that he's going to claim to be the guy.
"I'm not going to worry about it," he said. "Every fifth day, when I get the ball, I'm going to go out there and try to win the ballgame. That's what any guy in our rotation is going to do."
Billingsley got stronger as the game went on (and the lead mounted) Monday, striking out the last five batters he faced and seven of nine. He retired all nine batters he faced after the six-run fourth that gave the Dodgers a 7-1 lead.
"Raffy (Furcal) came up big with the two-out hit with (runners at) second and third to get the rally going," said Billingsley, "and I was able to go out that next inning and get a quick inning, and everything fell into place after that."
Billingsley also helped himself with the bat, getting down a beautiful sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third for Furcal in that fourth-inning rally.
"The game was tight and I had to get a bunt down, and get it down the third base line, because I knew the first baseman was charging," Billingsley said. "I was able to get that done."

LOS ANGELES -- It's the great undeclared Southern California holiday, the Dodgers' home opener, meaning 54,000 people will have to explain to their bosses (or employees) tomorrow how they got a sunburn at a dentist's appointment.
Vin Scully is throwing out the first pitch, and was just telling a very funny story in the press box about the last time he did it (this will be his third time). Since I can't tell it nearly as well, I'll hope he tells it on the air. Let's just say he did some very clever pre-planning so he wouldn't have to worry about getting the throw over the plate.
This is traditionally the day when the press box feels a lot like a New York subway at 5 p.m., but so far, it doesn't seem quite so horrifically overcrowded -- which may be a sign of the times in the newspaper business.
I must admit, it's pretty cool to be included in a new sign on the back wall of the press box listing the names of 320 reporters who have covered the team at Dodger Stadium since 1962 (third name down, row 15 of 16) -- but it's also sobering how many of those people are no longer in the business (or no longer with us, as in the case of the much-missed Matt McHale, for example).
Anyway, game time is approaching. I'll check in again at the end of the afternoon.

ANAHEIM -- Well, that was interesting.
Bobby Abreu called time, Josh Beckett threw the ball anyway, and the next thing you know, Angel Stadium is hosting a prolonged on-field debate.
What we know is this: Abreu called time out just as the Red Sox pitcher was about to throw in the bottom of the first. He threw anyway -- buzzing Abreu with a head-high pitch to the backstop -- and when Abreu started barking at him from home plate, the pitcher came toward the batter and had some comments of his own.
After that, both dugouts emptied, the bullpens joined the fray and -- after the incident appeared to calm down, it boiled over a couple more times -- once when Beckett appeared to have words for Angels manager Mike Scioscia, again when Torii Hunter suddenly became enraged and was ejected -- before order was finally restored.
By then, Hunter, Justin Speier and Mickey Hatcher had been ejected; manager Mike Scioscia joined them a half-inning later, ejected while in the dugout by third-base umpire Ed Rapuano.
The Angels were still upset afterward -- in part about the pitch, and in part because they were the only ones to suffer ejections. And the Red Sox said there was no intent behind the pitch.
Here are some reactions:
Scioscia, who was controlled but clearly unhappy
-- "What got me upset? I think it's pretty evident what got us all upset. I don't think there's much more we can say about that. That was as blatant as anything I've seen in this game and that's unfortunate."
-- On the four ejections: "Well, we had an issue with that, too. That was certainly something that we definitely got the short end of that."
-- Asked if he'd seen a player buzzed with a pitch after time was called: "No, and if it is, usually the pitcher will show a little bit of remorse and say that wasn't a part of it. But obviously, we didn't see any of that with Beckett."
-- Asked what was said by Beckett: "I'm not going to talk about on-field conversations, but that was certainly something that there was no need for, and obviously we took exception to it, and I don't think it was handled very well by the umpires."
-- Asked if he was told why Hunter was singled out for ejection: "No. Both dugouts emptied, and yet our side was getting the wrath of the umpires. And I think maybe that is indicative that the umpires knew that maybe there was something we were going to be upset about.
"We were told by [crew chief and second-base umpire] Joe West the ball wasn't near Bobby, and Joe said he had a good view from second base with it. And that's obviously a miscalculation by Joe."
-- "There were some things that happened on that field that was disturbing, and I really feel the league has to look at it. ... What happened today absolutely crossed the line, and I think it was inexcusable. And that's part of what was frustrating about the events that happened today."
Torii Hunter
Hunter was actually in pretty good humor -- "I've got a gag order, from Howie Kendrick," he said -- but seemed to imply that it was a comment by an umpire, not anyone on the Red Sox, that set him off:
"You know, things just got out of hand. ... I should have dealt with my actions a lot better, man. Actually, I was trying to handle the situation and help everybody out, just tell everybody -- I think Mickey got upset, and I tried to calm him down. I was holding him back. You saw me holding a lot of guys back. And then just some words that were said that were just outrageous, you know? And it wasn't from the Red Sox. And I freaking lost it. I've got to control my actions better than that."
That "wasn't the Red Sox" comment set off this exchange:
Q: It wasn't the Red Sox? It was the umpires?
A: "I don't know. I never said that."
Q: Well, there were Angels, Red Sox and umpires out there. And you've eliminated the Red Sox and Angels.
A: "It might have been the voices in my head. Little Andy. I've got this little thing on my shoulder called Andy. He's red, with horns on his head."
Hunter, like the others, watched the game in the clubhouse: "It was a good game, and I sure hate that I got ejected in the first inning. I should have been out there with my teammates, battling. That's something you just can't do, man.
"Today was Easter. I went to chapel and prayed and did different things like that, and my passion took over -- which is a good thing. If I could take it back, I would probably handle the situation a lot better. I thought I did, until somebody said something."
Pitcher Dustin Moseley
-- Asked for his intepretation of what happened:
"A guy called time out and he threw a ball by his head. It's pretty easy, you know. He made a bad decision on that.
"I don't know if it was an accident or what it was. We won't know. A lot of times, when a guy calls time out, you just throw it where the guy's (catcher's) set up, not where he threw it.
"That's what got it going. You just don't do that.
-- When it was noted that Abreu stayed put and Beckett approached the batter: "That's what I'm saying. That was a bad decision on his part, all the way around.
I think sometimes when we make a mistake and get caught up in the game, you get a little defensive because you know you didn't do what you should have did, you messed up. So maybe that's what happened."
Justin Speier
"I didn't really know I was ejected. I think Butch (pitching coach Mike Butcher) told me I was ejected.
"I sort of regret the way I acted today, being Easter and everything, but at the same time, what Beckett did was totally uncalled for, to throw a 94-mile-an-hour fastball after Varitek was set up down and away, and the umpire called time. And to throw it at someone's head is a total disrespect to us and a disrespect to the game.
"I was beside myself and livid because you just don't do that in the game. I mean, he could say whatever he wants to say, but the fact of the matter was Varitek was set up down and away, and he threw the ball right at Abreu's head. And that's unacceptable.
-- Asked if things were said, since the incident seemed to flare up after settling down: "Well, yeah. The thing about it is it was frustrating, because here's a guy who obviously made a big mistake, and threw at Abreu's head, and then he has the gall to like charge Abreu and start talking smack to Abreu, and then start talking smack to our manager. Which doesn't make any sense to me.
"So he made like three mistakes today, you know what I mean? Not only did he throw at somebody's head, but he actually tried to go after Abreu and then go after our manager. Which doesn't make any sense.
"I don't know. What are you going to do?"
The Red Sox
A couple of brief reactions, courtesy of AP's Joe Resnick:
-- Beckett: "I've never hit anybody in the head, and it's not really on my list of stuff to accomplish. But people can think what they want to think. I know Bobby Abreu. He knows I'm not trying to hit him in the head. Obviously, there's been a lot of emotion in this series with them _ not only facing us, but obviously the tragedy that all of them went through."
-- Kevin Youkilis: "It's just baseball. Stuff happens, and what happened in the game happened. It was just one of those things that got out of control, and some people just flipped their lid. They came running out, and I was just trying to protect Josh from whatever was going to happen. But nothing happened, and that's how it usually turns out -- just guys yelling and screaming."

In a little over three weeks, the Ducks have gone from 12th place into the Western Conference to a playoff spot -- either the seventh or eighth, depending on the outcome of today's St. Louis-Colorado game.
Whichever spot they finish in -- and it could be crucial in terms of a match up -- the Ducks that finish the season are playing at a level that eluded them for most of the year.
What was the key? Well, a single word was very popular when the Ducks tried to explain their turnaround after Friday's 4-3 shootout win over Dallas, the game that clinched their spot in the postseason.
Coach Randy Carlyle said the March 4 trade-deadline day -- when the Ducks engineered four separate deals and remade their roster -- was the turning point for his team, adding, "I think that's where we became more consistent as a group, and our record indicates that.
"I don't know what our record is from the trade deadline" -- it's 11-5-1 after Saturday's regular season finale, the 5-4 shootout loss at Phoenix -- but I think we've won 10 out of 13 games. ... We knew we were going to have to do that, and we went out on the road and did it."
Veteran defenseman Scott Niedermayer also cited "consistency (and) playing the way we need to.
"You only have success when you play as a team. You can win with many different systems, but if you don't play them as a team, you're not going to. So we're just playing harder as a team, together."
Teemu Selanne added another voice to that chorus.
"Well, consistency is the key for our hockey club," he said. "Before, we'd play good games, a couple of good games, and then we'd play really bad ones. In this league, you can't play like that if you're going to have success.
"So obviously, consistency is the key, and when the games got more important, everybody took a lot more pride to make sure that we're going to be ready and going to win some games, and good things happened."
Those good things could mean significant momentum for the Ducks, given the way they finished.
"As we slipped further in the standings," said defenseman Chris Pronger, "it was just a matter of clearing our heads and pushing forward and understanding that it was going to take a win, and one after another after another, to get us back into the race and back into playoff position.
"And we were able to do that by playing well in all three zones, and our specialty teams were excellent. Irregardless of how we did tonight, it was a pretty solid last month for our hockey team, and certainly something we can build off and build on going into the playoffs."
Wrapping up: The Kings also feel like they ended the regular season with something to build on, but the next step in the construction won't come until next season.
Long since eliminated from the playoff race for the seventh straight year, the Kings finished their year at 34-37-11 by beating San Jose 4-3 on Saturday. That total of 79 points is just eight more than a year ago, but it may feel like a bigger step since the team became was generally more competitive, staying in the playoff picture until mid-February by stabilizing its long-running goaltending issues with rookie Jonathan Quick ("Every game, he's given us an opportunity to win," said coach Terry Murray) and second-year Erik Ersberg. And Murray's focus on defense helped the team cut its goals-against by 28 (262 to 234).
"I think we're moving quickly in the right direction," said Murray. "The foundation seems to be coming into place for the start of next year, and that was the priority."
On the other hand, the team slipped offensively, scoring 24 fewer goals and finishing tied for 26th in the league at 207 goals for.
"We want to be better in the offensive part of the game, no question," said Murray. "That's an area that's a concern. I didn't think it would be at the start of the season. We were in pretty good position, pretty good shape, I thought.
"But in the last few weeks, the last month, I liked the attitude in the offensive zone. Better on the puck, cycling better, better five-man rotation. I think our defensemen are getting more involved, and that's the secondary kind of scoring that you have to have."
While the players saw positives, they certainly did not accept the idea of finishing 14th in the 15-team Western Conference.
"We didn't get it done this year," said defenseman Matt Greene. "I think guys are really disappointed. ... Nobody's saying, 'I had a good year individually.' Everybody's disappointed about making it, but hopefully we can learn from this. ...
"But I think the future's bright. You look at the awards tonight -- Drew Doughty's our best defenseman, (Anze) Kopitar's our leading point-getter, and Dustin Brown's our MVP. And they're all at least a couple years younger than me. (Brown is 24, Kopitar 21 and Doughty 19. Greene, for the record, is 25.) That's a sign that things are going the right way, when your young players are your best players."
Now, those players need to work to improve, said Murray.
"I think the off-season is going to tell a lot with the conditioning of these individuals," he said. "They're going to get better following up their season with the off-ice program, pushing themselves, getting to become men with their power, strength and endurance, and going from there."
And given the lack of scoring punch and the team's comfortable situation in relation to the salary cap, there's certainly a chance to improve the team through free agency -- though Murray shied away from calling for that.
"We need to get better with the players that are here," he said. "... The other parts that I think you're referring to, that's in house, and we'll have lots of discussions over the next several weeks."
Winners: By the way, here are those end-of-season awards Greene mentioned, awarded on Saturday:
Selected by the media:
Billy Libby Memorial Award (Most Valuable Player): Dustin Brown.
Mark Bavis Memorial Award (Best Newcomer): Drew Doughty.
Outstanding defenseman: Doughty.
Defensive player: Michal Handzus.
Selected by players:
Ace Bailey Memorial Award (Most Inspirational): Sean O'Donnell.
Unsung Hero: Handzus.
Selected by the Kings Care Foundation:
Community Service: Brown.
Selected by the Kings Booster Club:
Most Popular: Brown.

I'm having trouble finding today's column on the website, so for the record, here it is:

LOS ANGELES -- The Lakers and Clippers played Sunday night.
Which makes this an ideal time to talk about Andrew Bynum.
No, he didn't play. But his impending return has far greater big-picture implications for the Lakers than an ugly 88-85 win over the junior varsity.
And because he didn't play, he's untainted by a dreadful game before a silent crowed that probably would have been improved, at least in long stretches, if it had featured two D-League teams, if not 10 fans selected at random from the stands at Staples Center.
And so: Bynum.
Phil Jackson has clearly, at times, wearied of talking about his absent seven-footer, so on Sunday, the best place to go to discuss Bynum's return was a short distance down the hall, in the office of Mike Dunleavy. Those of us interested in Bynum were able to get a different perspective on the young center, and Dunleavy was given a chance to talk about something other than his own collection of the disabled and disinterested. So it was a win-win situation, and Dunleavy warmed to the task -- particularly when asked if he'd seen Bynum in the stretch of really high-level play right before his injury.
"Well," Dunleavy said, "let me put it this way -- as opposed to the time he got 42 on us? Was that during that period?
"I saw him play pretty good then."
For those who have forgotten -- including the reporter who asked (and no, it wasn't this one) -- back on Jan. 21, Bynum rolled through the Clippers like Shaquille O'Neal nursing a ticketing grudge, finishing with 42 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks.
That was the start of a five-game outburst in which it looked like the "next" part of "next great center" had become superfluous, as Bynum averaged 26.2 points, 13.8 rebounds and 3.2 blocks.
The sixth game in that sequence, though, was the Jan. 31 game in Minnesota in which Bynum suffered the torn medial collateral ligament that has now sidelined him for 31 games.
So you can figure Dunleavy was pretty thrilled Bynum wasn't back in time to play Sunday. That becomes even more true when Dunleavy rattles off what Bynum will bring in return. He started the obvious points -- size, shotblocking, and the easing of the burden on Pau Gasol.
"If you're going to start (Lamar) Odom," said Dunleavy, "there's no question Gasol has to play the primary low-post player on the other team. With a Bynum, you can rest him off that at times. You can play them both together. You can come and sub for him.
"And then offensively, Bynum is so long he gets them a lot of easy buckets. He rolls to the bucket, you have to pick him up. If you don't, it's a dunk, which opens up something for somebody else. ...
"It's just having another guy that can break a game open for you in either an offensive or defensive way."
There's all that, and then there's this: The minute Bynum returns, the Lakers' second unit -- which has not been the same since Bynum was hurt and Vladimir Radmanovic was exiled to Charlotte -- will get a lot better. Either Bynum is part of the second unit, or he's a starter, and someone (Lamar Odom, perhaps?) goes back to the reserves.
"I haven't crossed that yet," Jackson said, during Sunday's inevitable Bynum-update portion of his pregame conversation. "I kind of envision him going back as a starter again, just because he's got an injury he's recovering from that takes some activation still." (In other words, better to have him go from the start, when he's loose, than to loosen up before the game and then sit.)
So -- as if you didn't know -- there's a lot the Lakers are waiting for, and have been, really, since Bynum was writhing around on the court in Memphis after banging into Kobe Bryant. That wait is not quite over; Jackson seemed to indicate he won't return against Sacramento or Denver because those games may be a bit more up-tempo than the coach prefers, given that Bynum's current physical condition is, in his own word, "terrible." (Lifting Playmates at parties may be a decent upper-body workout, but it doesn't really do a lot for the cardiovascular system, it seems.)
Still, there's no question Bynum needs to get as much game activity as possible.
"Everything in therapy is controlled," said Jackson. "And basketball's not controlled. It's all reactive. So it will take a different kind of conditioning and reaction to get to that point.
"He'll need those two, three games, four games or whatever we can get in there for him to get that back, and then hope that our practices are spirited and active enough to bring him the rest of the way for the playoffs."
Jackson knows the 26-point, 13-rebound Bynum isn't going to be making an appearance any time soon: "He's not going to be in 'A' game shape condition at all by the time the playoffs start."
He'll be good enough to make an impact, though. Maybe not at Clipper-crushing levels, but as the playoffs begin, the Lakers will take whatever they can get.
-- Contact columnist David Lassen at dlassen@VenturaCountyStar.com.