Losing Games Tests Mashburn’s Patience : NBA: Rookie, who was so successful in high school and at Kentucky, is frustrated with the Mavericks’ play.

When the director yells “Cut!” he wants Jamal Mashburn to plant his right foot and make a move, not interrupt the shoot. A week ago Mashburn rebelled against the coaching ideas of Quinn Buckner. Now here is some guy in Buddy Holly glasses, wearing low-top Pro Keds while traffic-copping this Fila commercial, telling Mashburn how to play ball.

Mashburn takes the cue anyway. He is inside a cavernous studio surrounded by warm lights and intrusive cameras. The 30-second spot will take two days to film. It will sell Mashburn’s line of sneakers. There are special effects and animation and the futuristic theme requires Mashburn to post up three mutants.

The storyline seems very strange, yet Mashburn shrugs and asks, “Whoever thought Bugs Bunny and Michael Jordan would work?”

Mashburn believes it will turn out fine. He isn’t so sure about his rookie season with the Dallas Mavericks.

Rick Pitino stopped by the other day, and the therapy given by Mashburn’s coach at Kentucky helped. But the nightly stompings issued by NBA teams, the 18-game losing streak, the difficulty understanding and accepting Buckner’s structured triple-post offense, they all feed Mashburn’s frustrations.

He’s never experienced anything like this. Not on the legendary Rucker playground in Harlem, where he made his reputation. Nor at Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx, where he won a Catholic city championship and New York Newsday player of the year honors. Nor at Kentucky, where he won acclaim and fame and a Final Four appearance.

He lost 17 times in three years in Lexington. He lost for the 17th time after five weeks with the Mavericks.

“He can’t take this,” Pitino said after spending hours counseling and consoling Mashburn. “But I told him to look at the big picture. He’s going to take his lumps for three to four years, then it’ll all change for the better.”

At least Mashburn will bring some respect home tonight when the Mavericks (1-21) play the New York Knicks at the Garden. He is 6 feet 8 and 240 pounds with the skills that pay bills--and will earn him $32 million over seven years. Teammate Derek Harper, who’s seen a few players in his 11 NBA years, declared Mash “the best small forward in the league” after watching him a week. Sure, maybe that’s a stretch. Mashburn’s defense needs polish, he forces tough shots and he’s had a few four-for-20 nights. But he can slice inside and blow by his man with a quick first step and crossover dribble, or shoot for distance. Mash has the rookie scoring lead at 19.7 points per game and enormous potential.

He’s had his moments, such as the time when he torched the proud Seattle SuperSonics defense for 17 quick points in 19 first-half minutes.

“When we realized what he was doing, we had to double-team him,” said Nate McMillan, the Sonics’ captain. “For a rookie to get that type of respect lets you know what type of talent he has. You don’t expect it to come that easy for a rookie.”

Pitino’s pro-style system at Kentucky prepared Mashburn well, and the former Knicks’ coach said Mashburn was ready for the NBA after his freshman year. Impressed by Mashburn’s instincts for the game, Pitino labeled him a “summa cum laude of basketball” and strongly suggested Mashburn leave school a year early.

Mashburn once was accused of taking a passive approach to basketball but he’s much more serious about the game now. The conditioning problem he had at Kentucky didn’t follow him to Dallas; he arrived with only 7.9% body fat.

“You have to understand,” Mashburn said. “I don’t want to be associated with being an average player. I want people to react to me the way they did with Jordan.”

That kind of bravado isn’t lost on McMillan. “He has an attitude about himself,” the Sonic guard said. “He knows he belongs here.”

There is a lot to like about Mashburn the player and person. Those who know say money and fame haven’t worked their devilish ways with him. He still offers the polite smile he had as Helen and Bobby’s little boy growing up at 159th and Eighth Avenue. He begs his mother to quit her job as a bookkeeper at the city Housing Department so he can take care of her for life. He endeared himself further to Kentucky by donating a $500,000 scholarship fund. His Maverick teammates adore him and find him amusing because he calls everyone “kid” even though Mashburn himself just turned 21.

Mashburn can take the rookie treatment, too. Before he reached legal drinking age, Mashburn went to a popular North Dallas club with teammates. Dallas guard Jim Jackson slipped away to the manager’s office and tattled about Mashburn’s age. Seconds later Mashburn was shown the door by two beefy security guards.

What Mashburn can’t stomach is the Mavericks’ miserable season.

For the record, Mashburn says he doesn’t have a major problem with Buckner, the rookie coach, just “differences of opinion.” And those differences are shared by most of Mashburn’s teammates.

So when Mashburn lashed out at Buckner’s methods after a 33-point loss to the Lakers on Dec. 1, he did it for the team and himself.

“Something had to change and somebody had to speak up,” Mashburn said. “I felt it was my place to say something, even though I was a rookie. All the players felt the same as I did. They just did their talking in their hotel rooms.”

Mashburn knew he invited criticism, but he accepts that.

“After we lost 10 straight, it was time to go public, even though it rocked the boat. If I had to do it all over again, I’d do it the same way.”

When Magic Johnson did that in 1981, Paul Westhead was fired as Laker coach and the world was introduced to Pat Riley. Mashburn’s intention was to get Buckner’s attention, not his head on a chopping block.

“It’s all about communication,” Mashburn said. “If you had Coach Pitino and Quinn say the same thing, it’ll come out differently. Quinn means well; he just doesn’t say it right all the time.”

Buckner says now, “I wish Jamal had come to me first and kept things in-house, but I have no problem with him personally. He’s young and when things have been handed to you, it comes as a shock when you have to learn things.”

Buckner also had no problem with the suggestions aired in a Dec. 3 team meeting. He altered his aloof approach with the players and altered the offense, which Mashburn said took away the players’ ability to go on instinct and made them respond like “robots” instead.

Since then the Mavericks have been competitive. They just haven’t won.

Pitino told Mashburn that “Jesus could coach this team and he’d have to coach a great game to win. I think Jamal understands that now.”

Pitino added more perspective when he and Mashburn went to the construction site of the 9,000-square-foot home Mashburn is having built in nearby Irving.

“He said there’s no reason to be unhappy when you have so much around you,” Mashburn said. “And I stopped and looked and saw it. From where I come from to where I am now, there’s no comparison. I only have one choice and that’s to be happy.”

The Fila commercial Mashburn just finished will air in March when his shoe debuts. It will make Mashburn’s rookie year a little more palatable.

The day after the Mavericks absorbed an 11-point loss to the Phoenix Suns, Mashburn is in a studio makeup room while a Fila representative explains to a visitor about marketing Mashburn. “He had the misfortune of being drafted by the Mavericks,” the rep said. “So we knew he wasn’t going to get a lot of TV exposure. It’s a shame.”

Mashburn emerges and takes his cues as the cameras hum. He drives for a layup past a couple of players dressed in green costumes. He dunks and shakes the fake backboard glass. A tree breaks the surface of the court and makes a menacing move toward Mashburn, so he steps back and shoots a three over the branches.

Then his fingers catch fire and Mashburn says his only line: “Hey, how do you turn these things off?”

The commercial shoot is long and tedious, but Mashburn’s patience wins in the end. Somehow he must find the same amount of tolerance for the season.