They can stink up this joint

PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Lakers have found the Rose Garden to be anything but aromatic since it opened in 1995.

The obvious metaphor would be thorny, seeing as how the Lakers are 6-18 up here against the Trail Blazers over the last 13 years, but Coach Phil Jackson didn’t even want to touch the topic after Monday’s practice.

“The [heck] with that,” he said, feigning disgust. “Don’t write your story about that.”

Jackson probably didn’t want to ruin the Lakers’ roll -- four consecutive victories while matching strides with San Antonio for second place in the Western Conference -- but the Trail Blazers have definitely had their way with the Lakers, winning five in a row against them at the Rose Garden.

True to form, the Lakers lost in Portland in February, 119-111, as the Trail Blazers shot 52.9% and ended the Lakers’ 10-game winning streak. Portland’s point total that night was its second-highest this season.

So, what gives?

“They always have a young, energetic, athletic team,” Kobe Bryant said. “We always find ourselves coming up here the second night of back-to-backs and catch them when they had a couple days off and they’re sitting up here waiting for us. It’s been tough.”

The Lakers didn’t play Monday, so they can’t use a back-to-back excuse tonight.

“We’ll be ready,” Bryant said, smiling.

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Andrew Bynum graduated from playing one-on-one with former players to going up against a current player.

Assistant coaches Kurt Rambis and Brian Shaw took turns against Bynum on Saturday and Sunday, and Chris Mihm went one-on-one with him Monday after practice.

“He’s getting a little activity,” Jackson said. “He looked pretty good. He’s a big kid, he’s strong, he’s running a lot better. He’s still a little bit short [with his shot]. Just a little bit.”

“We’ll watch him progress along and see if he wants to join the action [in practice] here at the end of the week, see what it looks like. He did some practicing [Monday], but it’s not contact, not moving around through traffic and that kind of stuff. But it’s close.”

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Media reports Monday that the NBA was increasing the age requirement for the draft from 19 to 20 were erroneous, but it still brought up an interesting question -- should the league and NBA Players’ Assn. agree to raise the age for turning pro?

Bryant thinks it should stay where it is, if not be lowered back down to 18.

“It should be up to the kid,” said Bryant, who went from Lower Merion (Pa.) High to the NBA in 1996. “That’s a kid’s decision, his choice. We’ve had situations that worked out with high-school kids coming out. Others haven’t done too well. It all depends on the individual.”

A reporter pointed out that 18-year-olds could join the armed forces but not be eligible for the NBA draft.

“Picking up a gun and fighting for your country is a little more dangerous than playing in the NBA,” Bryant said. “I just think it’s always good for a person to make his own decision.”

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Bryant also weighed in with a suggestion to straighten out the imbalance in the West and East for playoff seedings -- put the top eight teams from each conference in one pool and seed it from best to worst record.

“Let’s go 1 to 16; that would be interesting,” he said. “It might make for a long first round, though. You’ve got to fly over to wherever.

“It works the way it is now. I just think there’s been such a power shift to the Western Conference and all these great teams. The Eastern Conference has a little catching up to do.”

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mike.bresnahan@latimes.com