Great Scott Merely So-So : The Only Thing Falling for Guard Is His Stock With Riley and Lakers

For Byron Scott, the plunge has been dramatic. Scott’s life at the top has given way to a swift descent, demonstrating that there’s plenty of room at the bottom for a shooter gone sour.

His fall from grace began not too long after Laker Coach Pat Riley anointed him as “the best off-guard in the league.”

But that was before his demotion to fourth guard on the team, which of course is a very long way from being the best shooting guard in the NBA.

Right now, Scott is struggling, and the Lakers are struggling with him. When the Lakers play the Philadelphia 76ers today at the Spectrum, Scott will still be trying to find himself and wondering if anyone has seen him or his jump shot lately.

If nothing else, shooting is an exercise in confidence, which has quite unexpectedly deserted Scott when he needs it the most. The thing to do, he said, is to take a series of small steps and not worry too much whether they lead him back into the Laker starting lineup again.

“I’m not even thinking about that anymore,” he said. “I don’t know if it will happen or not. When I start thinking about it, I get discouraged.

“I can see things coming back to me and I’m playing as hard as I can,” he said. “I don’t know what else I can do.”

Scott hasn’t been a Laker starter for 12 games now, since Riley jumped Mike McGee ahead of him. Riley said the intent of the move was to strengthen the scoring of the Laker bench, not to penalize Scott.

It was a move born out of trouble. The Lakers had lost three straight games and four of five up to then, but they seemed to straighten themselves out right after Riley’s decision to have Scott and McGee swap places.

The Lakers won their first three games, and Scott scored more than 20 points off the bench in each. Then the bottom fell out.

In the nine games since, Scott has managed to score more than 10 points just once, and he is shooting about 33%.

A team that lives on its offense, the Lakers are 5-4 in those nine games and have discovered their success rate dwindling along with Scott’s productivity.

In the past, especially last season when they won the NBA title, the Lakers were able to revive themselves with their defense, but they haven’t played a whole lot better without the ball than with it.

When Scott’s defense suffered, so did his offense, and Riley began tinkering with his lineup. A change had to be made, Riley said.

“Mike McGee, like Kurt (Rambis) gives us a lot of fire,” he said. “Mike plays a different defensive game, really hounding the other team and pressuring the ball.

“But I didn’t put Byron down for any other reason than to balance the scoring load from the bench,” Riley said. “We’ve had players who have had defensive problems before.”

Scott said there is nothing really wrong with his defense.

“Lately, I think I’ve been pretty consistent with my play, although not my shooting,” he said. “But even then, I don’t want to go out there every time and just look for my shot. I’m just playing hard.”

There have been moments when Scott has looked, and found, his shot. When the Lakers rallied from a 20-point deficit Friday night against New Jersey, it was Scott who sank a 20-foot jumper from the left wing to tie the game at 88-88 in the fourth quarter.

The Nets called time out, and when the Lakers returned to their bench, McGee was the first person who congratulated Scott, wrapping his arms around him.

That was the high point for Scott and the Lakers. The Nets went on to score a 121-106 victory, and Scott retreated to the locker room, where he put ice bags on his knees and thought about his latest troubles.

After a while, he decided they’re not nearly as bad as what he’s already gone through. It was much worse for him as a rookie two seasons ago, Scott said, when he came to the Lakers from the Clippers in a trade for the popular Norm Nixon.

“This right now is nothing compared to that,” Scott said. “The trade, being accepted, not only by the public, but by the team. I think what’s really helped me (now) is my second life, my new family.”

Scott, 24, married 32-year-old Anita Scott Carter in Las Vegas during the All-Star break and became stepfather to his wife’s 3-year-old son from a previous marriage.

“I don’t really feel unsettled personally because my wife has really helped me,” he said. “When I didn’t feel like talking or playing, she helped me. Marrying her was the best thing I have ever done.”

However, Riley is not so certain. He thought Scott made a mistake by not waiting to get married.

“Let’s face it, getting married in the middle of the season will distract you,” Riley said. “But now that he’s married, maybe he’ll have it out of his system.”

Scott believes his personal life is private, and he said the timing of his marriage should not be questioned.

“I don’t think that’s fair,” he said. “There’s not anyone in the world who knows me, except my mother, who can judge me like that.”

In the meantime, the Lakers are playing like a team in turmoil. How much turmoil a team can be in with a 40-14 record is debatable, but the fact remains that they are not playing up to their potential.

Riley insists that Scott isn’t playing up to his. No longer does Riley claim that Scott is the league’s best off-guard.

“He still has that potential, but he hasn’t performed up to that potential,” Riley said. “No doubt, he’s struggling right now. Every player will have a couple of bad games, but you have to be more up than down, and Byron has had some really wide swings.

“To be a star player in this league, you have to perform every night,” Riley said. “If you don’t, then you have to sit down and think.”

Riley said he is looking forward to the day when Scott is back in the starting lineup and playing 35 minutes a game--when his jumper is dropping and his defense is no longer a liability.

By then, maybe the Lakers will all be back to normal. Magic Johnson should be fully recovered from his knee injury, and James Worthy should be healthy.

Early in the week, Riley said Scott could be back in the starting lineup again when the Lakers return home Thursday from this five-game trip, but now the coach is avoiding setting a timetable for Scott’s return. He cannot, however, avoid worrying about him.

“I’m concerned about Byron, sure, but there’s nothing I can do except to let it run its course,” Riley said.

Laker Notes The Lakers, who are 3-3 since the All-Star break, are probably going to play the 76ers without James Worthy, who did not practice Saturday. Worthy did not play against the Nets--the first game he has missed this season--because of a bruised groin. The Lakers are listing Worthy’s return as day-to-day. . . . Coach Pat Riley called a team meeting before practice. The 45-minute session was “instructional,” he said. Riley then closed the Laker practice session to the media. . . .The 76ers’ Moses Malone didn’t practice Saturday, complaining of a stiff neck and shoulder. Julius Erving will play after missing two games with a bruised right knee. Backup center Clem Johnson suffered an undisplaced fracture of his nose in Friday night’s 97-87 victory over Washington when Dan Roundfield accidentally struck him with his elbow. Johnson might play, but Andrew Toney, who has foot problems, and Terry Catledge, who is recovering from chicken pox, will not.