Harris Tugging Bryant’s Reins

He is still a phenom in training, so Coach Del Harris has been emphasizing the training part lately, first sending Kobe Bryant home with tapes to analyze and then, a couple of days later, in a rare display of consternation toward Bryant, getting on his second-year swingman for a couple of ill-advised three-point shots.

What took place in the third quarter Wednesday at Denver was not so much a public scolding as Harris again trying to get Bryant to stop forcing shots. The coach shot Bryant a look after three-point attempts on consecutive possessions led to fastbreak baskets for the Nuggets, cutting the Laker lead to seven and prompting a timeout. But Bryant stayed in the game and even opened the fourth quarter at shooting guard.

“He just tries too much,” Harris said later. “He’s got to let the game come to him, just like everyone else.

“We didn’t need them [the three-pointers]. We have two guys [Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel] shooting over 40% on threes. Those guys have the green light. Guys shooting less than 35% have a yellow light.”

Bryant went into that game at 26.5%, a considerable drop from his 37.5% as a rookie. In the previous 10 outings, the gauge Harris likes to use, Bryant was at 30%.

“If I’m open,” Bryant said with his usual confidence, “I’m going to shoot them.”

And of not playing later in the fourth quarter, when Jones came out of the game and Harris instead went with Van Exel and then Jon Barry at shooting guard, Bryant said he was not surprised--or bothered.

“Nah,” Bryant said. “We had the momentum going. Any time the lineup in the game has the momentum, you don’t want to mess with it.”

*

For the record: Van Exel did not set a Laker regular-season record for three-pointers in a game without a miss, as reported Thursday based on information supplied by the public relations department. Van Exel had previously gone six for six in a game.