RTC Director

Lakers rarely give their fans a Christmas present

With LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh rolling into town on Christmas Day, the timing seems perfect for the Lakers to awaken from a mid-winter's nap. After all, nobody does big moments better than the Lakers, right?

Except for this inconvenient truth: On Christmas Day, it is the Lakers who blink at the bright lights.

They have lost six of the past eight Christmas Day games, including last season's debacle when a 102-87 thumping by Cleveland — and some unfortunate calls against the home team — prompted Lakers fans to shower the court with foam fingers that had been handed out.

So much for rising to the big occasion.

"Last year at Christmas we didn't," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "The fingers rose to the big occasion last year."

Jackson never lost with the Bulls, going 7-0 on Christmas Day games. So perhaps it's simply an L.A. thing — just like an actor can't get into his scene without finding his motivation, the same applies to the Lakers.

Consider the two games they won in that span.

• Two years ago, they were facing Boston for the first time since being annihilated in the clinching Game 6 of the 2008 NBA Finals. The Lakers managed a 92-83 victory at home.

• In 2007, the Lakers played host to Phoenix after Jack McCallum's book on the Suns, "Seven Seconds Or Less,'' revealed Phoenix players and coach taking shots at just about every Laker. Los Angeles won that one, 122-115.

The others — Kobe vs. Shaq, Kobe vs. LeBron, Shaq vs. Yao, Doug Christie vs. Rick Fox — have been greeted with a yawn.

Jackson made clear he does not like playing on Christmas.

"You know, it used to be two (games)," Jackson said. "Now, I see they have (five) on Christmas. It's like Christian holidays don't mean anything to them anymore. Just go out and play and entertain the TV (audience). It's really weird. But it is what it is: We've got to go to work. We'll do what we have to do and make the best of it."

Jackson suggested that players, after opening gifts with their kids all morning and helping little Johnny hook up his new video game, have a hard time putting on their game faces.

Lamar Odom, asked how preparing for Christmas Day games is different after getting married last year (to Khloe Kardashian), sheepishly turned away.

"I don't know how to answer that," Odom said.

The Lakers were searching for answers to more meaningful questions Thursday — like how to get their mojo back.

After Tuesday's humiliating loss to Milwaukee, in which Kobe Bryant was ejected, Jackson gave his players Wednesday off. The Lakers returned to practice Thursday with a renewed sense of commitment. Bryant, who rarely practices, did so. And Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol went through their first extended practice of the season together. In fact, Pau Gasol noted, it was the first time all season the entire team practiced.

Gasol was the only Laker who acknowledged this game might be worth a little something extra to the team. Most everyone else was low-keying it. No, there was not any added motivation after all the attention on Miami. No, there were no messages to be sent.

"Every game we win is important," Ron Artest said after the loss to Milwaukee. "So if we win on Saturday, I doubt you'll see any champagne-popping."

by RTC Director

Best eyes Windies return

Fast bowler Tino Best believes he is still a valuable asset to West Indies cricket and hopes he can make the final squad for next year's World Cup in Asia.

The 29-year-old was named this week in the 30-man preliminary squad for the February 19 to April 2 showpiece, with selectors expected to trim the group in half by January 19.

Best has played sporadically for West Indies since his debut seven years ago and is now eyeing the opportunity to fight his way back into the regional side.

"It is everyone's dream to play in the World Cup and I'm no different. I believe I have something to offer to the West Indies in the quest to be world champions," the fiery fast bowler said.

"I have been doing a lot of work on my game and I believe I am now a more mature bowler with a better understanding of the art of bowling.

problems

"I am now getting the ball to swing more, and swing at pace will always cause problems for batsmen. This has come with experience. I believe at this stage in my career I can offer a lot."

The right-armer has taken 28 wickets in 14 Tests, the last of which were against Bangladesh last year when he was called up during the strike by the first choice Windies players.

His 13 wickets in 12 One-Day Internationals do not make exciting reading but his 10 wickets in four games at a healthy strike of 13 during last November's WICB One-Day Championship got the attention of selectors.

Best, well known for his passion and exuberant celebrations, said he was happy he had remained in the selectors' thinking.

"I am elated to be in the 30. My bowling has improved tremendously this year and I am happy the selectors still have me in their thoughts," Best said.

by RTC Director

Ashes: England set to keep Ian Bell at six in Melbourne

Ian Bell looks set to stay at six in England's batting order for the fourth Ashes Test in Melbourne on Boxing Day.

The in-form batsman has been tipped to move up the order to five, with Paul Collingwood struggling for runs.

But England captain Andrew Strauss said: "I'm not going to 100% rule it out, but I'd be surprised if we went down that route."

Meanwhile, James Anderson showed no signs of suffering with a side strain as he took part in training on Friday.

The paceman had not bowled since England's 267-run defeat in the third Test at Perth last week after complaining of soreness down his side.

However, the 28-year-old bowled an hour-long spell in a net session, giving England a huge boost two days before the crucial match against Australia.

"Jimmy seems absolutely fine," said Strauss. "He's done quite a lot of bowling, but it [side strain] has settled down nicely."

With 200 wickets in 55 Test matches, Anderson is key to England's hopes of regaining their lead in the five-match series at the MCG, which is set to host 90,000 people for the traditional Boxing Day encounter.

However, the fate of his his new-ball partner in Perth, Steve Finn, is less assured.

Although the 21-year-old has taken 19 wickets in the series - one less than leading wicket-taker Graeme Swann - he has conceded 3.96 runs an over, in comparison with Anderson's frugal 2.95.

The Middlesex seamer complained of sore calves after Perth, prompting speculation that he could be dropped for either Tim Bresnan or Ajmal Shahzad in Melbourne.

However, Strauss insisted Finn is fully fit to play at the MCG.

"There was a little bit of weariness after that Test, but no cause for concern in terms of fitness for this one," Strauss said of Finn.

"I think he's been a little frustrated that he hasn't been as consistent as he would like.

"Last summer in England, his lengths were very good consistently - and maybe he has not done that on this tour.

"But he is a bowler with a knack of taking wickets, which is a great skill to have. Every match he plays he is learning about bowling in Australia. The vast majority of what he has done on this tour, I've been very happy with - and I expect him to continue getting better."

While Bell has been in excellent touch during the tour - his first-innings 53 in the defeat in Perth was his fourth successive Test half-century - Collingwood has continued to struggle batting at five.

The 34-year-old has gone 10 innings since his last Test half-century, against Pakistan at Trent Bridge in July.

But England look set to resist the temptation to alter the batting line-up, although Bell remained sanguine about talk of a promotion.

"Whether it happens or not is irrelevant for this series, as long as we're winning the next two Tests," said the Warwickshire batsman.

"That's the most important thing to me, contributing to this team winning the Ashes.

"I think we've played some very good cricket since we've been here. We had a blip in Perth - we knew Australia at some point would play some great cricket and have some great individual performances.

"We've had a good opportunity to have a sit down and talk about what happened in Perth... in Melbourne, I'm sure we can put right what went wrong."

Team-mate Kevin Pietersen said England will be more prepared for Australia's swing bowling after Mitchell Johnson took nine wickets in Perth.

"I just don't think we prepared for it," Pietersen told BBC Radio 5 live. "The ball swings in England in summer so swing bowling's not a problem.

"We didn't bat as well as we could have [in Perth] - we understand the reasons and a had good thrash in the team meeting about the reasons," he said.

"We've come to grips with that and will be a lot better prepared come Melbourne. We've had great success against swing bowlers in the past."

Pietersen also defended the under-fire Collingwood, saying: "We support players who are not going through the best of times, because it happens to us all.

"We all know Colly's someone who, when his back is up against the wall, scores runs. I'll be very surprised if we're not 100-3 this week and he gets us a big hundred and in a really good position - I've seen it so many times before."

Meanwhile, the curator at the Melbourne Cricket Ground has hinted England will have nothing to fear from his pitch.

Cameron Hodgkins says he has had no directive from Cricket Australia on what type of surface to prepare for the match - and that it should pose fewer problems than the Waca did in Perth.

"[The MCG] is more a wicket that offers a little bit up front and is quite flat towards the end of the match," he told BBC Sport.

"On the Waca's worst day they'd still be faster and bouncier than anything that we'd turn out.

"We traditionally are quite slow on the first day, normally, and that probably causes the most difficulty for batsmen who want to get on with it.

"So patience is normally a key ingredient here. If you don't have that you can be four or five down early on, and the game's over."

England have been boosted by the news that bowler James Anderson is expected to be fit for Melbourne, despite feeling stiffness in his side after the match in Perth.

England (from): AJ Strauss (captain), AN Cook, IJL Trott, KP Pietersen, PD Collingwood, IR Bell, MJ Prior (wkt), GP Swann, TT Bresnan, CT Tremlett, JM Anderson, A Shahzad, ST Finn.

Australia (from): RT Ponting (captain), PJ Hughes, SR Watson, MJ Clarke, MEK Hussey, SPD Smith, BJ Haddin (wkt), MG Johnson, RJ Harris, BW Hilfenhaus, PM Siddle, MA Beer, UT Khawaja.

Umpires: A Dar (Pkn) and T Hill (NZ)

Third umpire: M Erasmus (SA)

Match referee: R Madugalle (SL)

by RTC Director