http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailyd...t&lid=tab3pos2
Chances are there won't be a national rush of praise for the Mavericks even after they reasonably smothered Bryant and stretched the longest win streak in the league to 12, especially since the hosts blew an early 20-point lead and actually had to win the game twice. Yet Bryant's counsel is to ignore the reaction regardless. Negative or even positive.
"Who cares?" Kobe said. "This team, you can tell, makes a much more concerted effort to play defense, and I think that starts with [coach] Avery Johnson. It's clear they have a strategy that everybody's in tune with. That's the big difference from the [Dallas] teams in the past. Until the playoffs, they shouldn't be wasting time even thinking about [national perception]."
Truth is, they aren't. Even as the Mavericks rack up numbers this franchise has never seen -- holding all 12 foes during this unbeaten run under 100 points to establish a club record -- they're obsessed down here with doing these things in the playoffs for once. They don't want bouquets in February. Not even on Valentine's Day and not even from Bryant.
Chances are there won't be a national rush of praise for the Mavericks even after they reasonably smothered Bryant and stretched the longest win streak in the league to 12, especially since the hosts blew an early 20-point lead and actually had to win the game twice. Yet Bryant's counsel is to ignore the reaction regardless. Negative or even positive.
"Who cares?" Kobe said. "This team, you can tell, makes a much more concerted effort to play defense, and I think that starts with [coach] Avery Johnson. It's clear they have a strategy that everybody's in tune with. That's the big difference from the [Dallas] teams in the past. Until the playoffs, they shouldn't be wasting time even thinking about [national perception]."
Truth is, they aren't. Even as the Mavericks rack up numbers this franchise has never seen -- holding all 12 foes during this unbeaten run under 100 points to establish a club record -- they're obsessed down here with doing these things in the playoffs for once. They don't want bouquets in February. Not even on Valentine's Day and not even from Bryant.
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