From today's NY Times:

What in the World Is Wrong With the Lakers?

By CHRIS BROUSSARD

...Whatever has happened to them?

Since sweeping the Nets in June to win their third consecutive title, the Lakers have been steeped in mediocrity and failure. While they are not in last place...they are 2-11 on the road and will take a dismal 10-16 record into Thursday's game against the Nets at Continental Arena.

When the Lakers started the season losing 9 of 12 games, no one was alarmed because Shaquille O'Neal was sidelined after having surgery on his right foot. But since O'Neal's return at center, the Lakers are 7-7, creating a real sense that the team thought capable of winning four or five straight championships may have crumbled prematurely...

The tough stretch was supposed to have ended Dec. 6, when the Lakers rallied from a 27-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the vaunted Dallas Mavericks. For those 12 minutes, the Lakers looked like their old selves, provoking analysts to proclaim the period of lethargy, inconsistency and struggle to be over. But the Lakers have since lost three of five games.

"I don't think just a simple thing like a victory is going to change that right now," Coach Phil Jackson said. "We can't seem to play together with the kind of energy we need."

All the Lakers are searching for the answer to their predicament, and it has led to bickering and infighting between the superstars, O'Neal and Bryant, and the role players. In late November, Bryant blasted forward Samaki Walker for going on the injured list with a back injury instead of playing through it. A week later, O'Neal implied that the Lakers' supporting cast was not playing hard.

For nearly two weeks, O'Neal has not granted any interviews. When asked to speak after a loss at Golden State on Dec. 10, he used expletives in telling reporters to talk to the Lakers who are not playing well.

"I ain't got nothing nice to say," O'Neal said today. "So I can't say nothing."

...Theories abound. Most agree that O'Neal is not yet in game shape, but Jackson said today that O'Neal was near the top of his game, and his statistics (26.3 points and 10.6 rebounds a game) are almost identical to last season's.

Jackson, who seems to be siding with his stars and implied that the Lakers may need to make a roster move regarding their supporting cast, said Bryant, who is averaging 26.1 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.2 assists, is being too unselfish by trying to get the role players involved at the start of games. He wants Bryant and O'Neal to take over immediately...

Robert Horry has noticed in game films that the Lakers are being beaten to loose balls, and he suggested that the 54 playoff games the Lakers have played over the last three years may be taking a toll on their legs.

That theory would account for the Lakers' defensive drop-off. Last season, they had the top-ranked field-goal defense (42.4 percent). This season, they are in the middle of the pack (43.3), and teams are killing them from beyond the 3-point line. Opponents are shooting a staggering 40.4 percent from behind the arc, leaving the Lakers last.

"You try to hope and pray that it doesn't, but I think that it does because that's a lot of games," Horry said. "You get a shortened summertime and you don't have time to really let your body heal before you start trying to get back into shape. Hopefully, that'll wear off."

Jackson believes the lack of hustle is more mental.

"I'm probably the only guy that can speak from experience about this, but after you win a few championships, it's real tough to push the guys to that level where they have to go sometimes," Jackson said. "That's what we're experiencing right now this year."

Despite their problems, the Lakers are conceding nothing. Though they are in 11th place in the Western Conference, they believe it is impossible for them not to make the playoffs.

"The amazing thing about it is we know we're going to be O.K., but we're not resting on that," Derek Fisher said. "We aren't just losing these games and saying, `Oh yeah, come the playoffs we'll be all right.' That's what the common person is saying; the regular person walking down the street thinks that's what we're thinking. We know we're going to be O.K., but we're not O.K."

(Bryan) Shaw believes the Lakers' lot will improve both on and off the court.

"It has to get better than this," he said. "It just has to."

Copyright The New York Times Company

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