Making His Point : Threatt Shooting Less, Giving Others the Ball

Last season, the Lakers would have been lost without Sedale Threatt.

A natural shooting guard, Threatt proved surprisingly effective at point guard with his outside touch and tenacious defense. He tended more toward caution than creativity, but he averaged a career-best 15.1 points and led the team with 3,070 minutes in a season of upheaval created by Magic Johnson’s retirement.

This season, when the happy daze of their 13-6 start faded to a 7-14 free fall, the Lakers again needed Threatt to save them. This time, though, he is doing it by design rather than by surprise, having been cast as the catalyst in their running-oriented offense. The adjustment produced some uneasy moments, but Threatt is adapting.

“I’m pretty much comfortable now,” said Threatt, who was acquired from the Seattle SuperSonics on Oct. 2, 1991, for three second-round draft picks. “I definitely know how to play it now.

“The last three weeks, since (a trip that included games in) Washington and Boston, we’ve really been playing good basketball. We’ve definitely been pushing it and getting easy baskets. You can see where Byron (Scott) and James’ (Worthy’s) games have really picked up. Byron is getting good looks and getting open shots--and he can really shoot the ball--and James is getting shots. I don’t think we’re as predictable as we were.”

“Predictable and stagnant” was Threatt’s assessment of the offense in late January, after a 106-91 defeat at New Jersey during which he failed to make a basket--missing seven shots--for the first time in 121 games as a Laker. His comments got back to Coach Randy Pfund, who called him over for a chat before the team’s game against the Pacers on Jan. 28 at Indianapolis.

Threatt said everything is fine now, despite a drop-off in his team-leading scoring average. After averaging 17.4 points over the first 25 games, “when I did my scoring a lot and I think that’s what everybody was looking for me to do,” Threatt averaged 12.6 in the next 24 for an overall average of 15.2. And in the 10 games since being asked to get the ball up the floor more quickly, he has averaged 12.7 points.

The trade-off favors the Lakers, because Threatt’s emphasis on looking for open teammates has created opportunities for Scott and Worthy. Scott has averaged 15.9 points in the team’s last 10 games and Worthy has produced four 20-point games and an average of 15.7 points during that span.

“As Sedale goes, so go the Lakers,” assistant coach Chet Kammerer said.

Asked to elaborate on the difference between the offenses of January and February, Threatt was guarded.

“I think it was . . . the offense is great today. Today it’s great,” he said. “We’re pushing the ball, guys are getting open shots. B. (Scott) and James are really getting out there and we’re getting up there faster. . . .

“There’s no tension (with Pfund). I’ve had no problem with nobody since I’ve been here. It’s just a thing of wanting to win so bad, and I’m one of those guys who has played in winning programs and this franchise has been one of the top franchises in the last 10 years. There’s a winning tradition here, and I definitely want to win.

“It’s a difficult thing, learning a new system, learning about Randy and his system, and the last three weeks we’ve maintained that system. We’re beating the teams we should be beating. We know we can play the Chicagos, Portlands and Bostons, the big teams, because we’ve beaten them. Early in the season we were relaxing against the weaker teams, but in the last three weeks we’ve beaten the teams we should beat. It was frustrating losing to Dallas and New Jersey, teams we really should beat.”

Pfund said he took Threatt’s January remarks as symptoms of frustration, rather than criticism.

“I don’t think there’s a reluctance on Sedale’s part (to adapt),” he said. “Sedale’s great. He does what you ask him to do. He never complains. You could play him 48 minutes and he wouldn’t say a word.

“He takes care of the ball and he’s shot it extremely well. If there was any reluctance, it was Sedale understanding that I was committed to changing and becoming more committed to the running game, and he needed to spearhead it by kicking the ball up the floor. You’ve got to understand, Sedale has probably played the off-guard more in his career. He’s got somewhat of a shooter’s instinct, which is not bad at all.”

Although Threatt says he is not worried about his statistics, it’s noticeable that he is shooting less. He averaged 13.7 shots over the first 25 games, compared with 11.2 in the last 10. He still is shooting well, though, with a 51% mark. He’s also shooting a team-leading 83.3% from the free-throw line.

“Sedale is a low-turnover point guard and a very good-shooting point guard, and those are very valuable traits for us,” Pfund said. “I still want him to keep those things going, but in order to help the team, there’s times we need to get the ball up the floor quicker.

“To be honest, that’s not something we’ve asked Sedale to do here in the year and a half he’s been here. We’ve played a slow-down game . . . and there’s some reasons why we got away from it.

“Now that we’ve focused in a little more on the run, I think Sedale has really helped us with his ability to push the ball up the floor and yet also mix in some of his pick-and-rolls and some of his jump shots off transitions. That could be a really good mix for us if we can develop that.”

Whether that mix can carry the Lakers through the playoffs is uncertain. Nor does Threatt dispute the suggestion that the team might need a real point guard to run its offense. General Manager Jerry West said he envisions Doug Christie, acquired this week from Seattle, filling that role someday.

“That could be true,” Threatt said. “I’m really a ‘two-guard.’ I’m a scorer, but I think I can play one or two. Whoever the Lakers draft or get, my job is to fit in with them.”

The 31-year-old Atlanta native would like to make it a long-lasting fit, even though he hasn’t bought a house here, “because there’s too many earthquakes.”

“I definitely like the system,” Threatt said. “Playing here has been a great opportunity for me since I’ve been here. Unfortunately, because of what happened to Earvin, I got a chance to play, and it was a chance to play and really develop as a player. Before I came here, I was known as a two-guard, and I think I’ve shown I can play point guard, too.”