Unhappy Fisher

Here's what Derek Fisher said during his postgame rant after the Lakers beat the Timberwolves on Tuesday for their eighth consecutive victory to start the season:

"The way we played tonight was irresponsible and it was reckless and it was disrespectful. I can't get any clearer than that. There was an air of complacency of arrogance of 'we don't have to play as hard as the other team to win' that I didn't like tonight. That goes for all of us. That doesn't mean that we're going to play perfectly every night or that we're going to win all 82 games, I'm not that optimistic. But it didn't have to be that way."

Reporter: Is this going to be addressed to the team?
Fisher: "I don't know. But I guess we'll read it and hear about it tomorrow. We just finished and so obviously my emotions are higher now than they might be tomorrow, but that's just how I feel about it. It didn't have to take place the way that it did. It wasn't the right way to play the game. I think prior to tonight we've done a fairly good job in respecting each opponent and each game for what it presents. Tonight we didn't do that. It's that simple."

Reporter: Did any stat jump off the page at you?
Fisher: "I don't even have to look at a stat sheet. I don't know what the numbers are, what the stats are, we just didn't play the game they way it was supposed to be played. It has nothing to do with the opponent. I've said that before. I don't care who we play, there's a certain type of basketball that we have to play in order to be who we are and that's not how we played tonight. regardless of who the opponent is, you have a higher chance of losing if you play the way that we played tonight. We can't do this against anybody. It doesn't matter what the records are ..."