Back-to-backs are problematic

Phil Jackson doesn’t want any more back-to-back panic attacks.

Cognizant that his team will play back-to-back games this week and next week, the Lakers coach took aim at two sad efforts in the second night of back-to-backs -- a 110-103 loss in Milwaukee on Nov. 21 and a 120-96 drubbing by Utah on Nov. 30 when the Jazz played without Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur.

Jackson has said in the past that successful teams find a way to conquer that dreaded part of the NBA schedule, a theme he revisited Tuesday.

The Lakers have played four back-to-back games this season, going 3-1 in the first game and 2-2 in the second game. They play San Antonio on Thursday at home and at Golden State on Friday. Next week, they play at Cleveland on Thursday and at Philadelphia on Friday.

“We have to be able to play back-to-backs, and play well,” Jackson said. “A team that can do that is a valuable team. That’s one of the successes I think of the Phoenix Suns over the years, is their ability to play back-to-back games and win both nights. We have to learn that a little bit as we grow up.”

Kobe Bryant has been unwavering in his praise for Andrew Bynum this season. Others have noticed.

“I think Kobe has recognized the uniqueness of Andrew, what he can bring to the table for a basketball team, and knows that if we’re going to win . . . he has a stopper like that,” Jackson said. “And, also, the advantage of having a guy that size to do things at the basket -- screen-and-rolls become an issue for other teams to cover.”

Said Bynum: “I heard about [the praise] and it’s pretty cool for him to do that because I definitely am working.”

Vladimir Radmanovic is back on Jackson’s radar. Jackson referred to him last season as a “space cadet” and continued with a similar premise Tuesday.

Radmanovic is averaging 17.5 points the last two games, but Jackson apparently doesn’t like his tendency to drift on the periphery instead of sometimes working for a better shot. Radmanovic could also take better care of the ball when it’s in his possession.

“Well, ‘My Favorite Martian’ is back on,” Jackson said. “He’s become kind of a wild card in our system, how we play and how things go. It’s just, he’ll do something just erratic. He’ll run a different route than everybody else runs. He’s a very free thinker, and I think that happens because of it.”

Luke Walton sat out practice Tuesday because of a sprained right ankle and Kwame Brown also sat out because of lingering soreness from a sprained left knee and ankle, decreasing the chances he’ll be ready for the Lakers’ next two games. Lamar Odom sat out because of mild soreness in his right knee. . . . Jackson, on Trevor Ariza adapting to the Lakers’ offense: “He seems to know how to get the ball to Kobe if something’s going wrong out there.”

mike.bresnahan@latimes.com