Phil Jackson quotes

On the recent strong play of Andrew Bynum...
``I like the fact that his teammates recognize his strengths and they're willing to get the ball to him in situations that are real positive. We ran the court well and got a couple easy (baskets) on the run.''

On keeping Bynum in the game after he picked up his fourth foul with eight minutes remaining...
``With the momentum there at the end of the game, it seemed like a good time to keep going.''

On the reasons for the Lakers' 2-1 start...
``We made a little switch. We tried to put Fisher on the ball in a delivery kind of thing, and put Kobe in a position where he can be an offensive-minded player rather than a distributor. It's helped us in a lot of ways, because it's kind of clarified guys' roles. I think the team is playing with a lot better enthusiasm. Defensively, they're hustling, even though a lot of things are still happening. They're hustling.''

On if that hustle makes errors easier to deal with...
``It makes up for a lot of errors. Guys work hard and knock the balls loose and something good happens.''

On the challenges posed by New Orleans...
``They have a unique way of playing the game. A lot of their stuff is generated by Chris Paul. They're a screen-roll kind of team that's oriented towards, if the fast break is not there and penetration is not there, then screen rolls are going to happen, multiple screen rolls. So it puts a lot of pressure on your big guys and your guards to try to match up.''

On the recent play of Vladimir Radmanovic...
``He's a little more comfortable with what's going on out there. Obviously last year he had a terrible start and a terrible end, so he didn't have an opportunity to really perform the way he wanted to. He's a good athlete. He's a good active player and he can do a lot of things.''

On the strong play of the second unit...
``I think that has really helped a lot, because when you have the middle part of the game, sometimes players ease up and they don't play as hard. We have guys coming out to work hard and push the ball at the other end of the court. Particularly when teams have played the night before, that makes a difference. It puts pressure on their ability to recover defensively and to just run the court.''

On the challenges of integrating Lamar Odom back into the offense...
``I don't think we have to do anything. We just have to understand what his role is, the fact that he's going to penetrate and the fact that he's going to look for those opportunities and then he's going to find open men in that process too. They have to have a spot-up position and know where they have to go, those things.''