MAKING THEIR BENCHMARK

Their trademark is a forgery. The University of Cincinnati reserves also called themselves “the Bench Mob” and broke into aerobics right before tipoff. Copyright infringement is avoided, however, seeing as how Corie Blount started the routine at Cincinnati too.

The moniker and the maneuver belong to the Lakers now, though few may notice, since the gyrating is done as the starters are huddling out on the floor, right after introductions.

But the subs congregate and start hopping up and down. Then they start turning, clockwise. How long and how fast usually depends on the number of seconds Kobe Bryant can go before bailing out and breaking the chain.

“He stops it before we really get going,” Blount said.

Saving all his equilibrium for the game, obviously.

Beyond the borrowed name and the borrowed pregame routine, though, this group has become a Laker original, unique in having made itself a strength of the team. And that’s significant, since the reserve corps began the season as a question mark after the summer departures of three major contributors from 1996-97, Travis Knight, Byron Scott and Jerome Kersey.

But Blount, Bryant and Derek Fisher have showed they can do as much as before, just much more often. And the decision to move Elden Campbell to the bench makes the Lakers that much stronger, giving them a backup center good enough to start for many teams.

“If not the deepest, they’re right there,” Golden State Coach P.J. Carlesimo said of the Lakers’ talent. “No one else comes to mind. The Knicks have a great bench also. [The Lakers have] the youngest deepest bench, that’s for sure.”

Bryant is 19, and No. 1 in the league in scoring among players who have not started. Fisher is 23 and offering the kind of steady play behind Nick Van Exel at point guard that allows the Lakers to maintain their top-three standing in assists. Blount is 28 and is one of only nine full-time substitutes--those who have come off the bench every game--averaging at least five rebounds. Campbell is the oldest at 29, just as he is the oldest player on the team.

“We’ve got a good bunch,” said Coach Del Harris, confident from the start that his group could make up for the summer losses. “We always felt we did have. Our scrimmages are highly competitive. In fact, the second unit has the edge over the first unit [in games won]. I know the first unit will dispute that, but it’s true. Ask Kurt Rambis. He keeps score during the scrimmages.”

Rambis, an assistant coach, happened to walk by.

“The second,” he said. “Easily.”

Harris said it’s not all that uncommon for subs to beat starters at many levels, because they usually have more to prove and need to impress more during practices.

“But it happens here a little more than it ought to,” Harris said.

“We’ve got a point guard that is in control. We’ve got low-post threats, whether Elden or Sean [Rooks]. And we’ve got wing players who can do the scoring and running, with Jon Barry and Kobe. And the [power forward] is Corie and he’s about as good a rebounder as there is on our team and in the league.

“So we’ve got all the elements. Fans may look out on the floor and see all the reserves playing together sometimes when we may be ahead or down by only a point or two. They may wonder what the coach is doing.”

Winning games?

Last Friday, the Lakers led the Houston Rockets, the hottest team in the Western Conference, by a point with 4:06 remaining in the third quarter. Bryant went in for Eddie Jones. Forty-five seconds later, the advantage at three points, Fisher subbed for Van Exel, Blount replaced Robert Horry and Rooks went in for Campbell, leaving Rick Fox as the only starter on the court.

By the end of the period, the Lakers were up 13. That was the game.

“Our second team has been pushing us all year,” Van Exel said, “and for them to go out there and and win the game against a quality team makes our team a lot better.”

Said Fisher: “A lot of people out there looking in at us thought we may have the best starting five in the league and then it’s up in the air after that, with the exception of Kobe.

“But we have maintained a certain level of confidence. I don’t know if we all expected us to play as well as we have. But we all know we can step up.”

Maybe because they all have, with the exception of 12th man Mario Bennett, who usually gets his opportunities during garbage time in blowouts. But with the season only about one-quarter through, every other member of the Bench Mob can point to at least one game, and usually more, in which he played a significant role. It has been someone just about every night.

“That speaks a lot to our mind-set,” Fisher said.

And to their contributions, which are enough to give them an identity all their own.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

THE BENCH MOB

OVERHAUL BREAKDOWN

*--*

CATEGORY PER-GAME AVG. STARTERS BENCH SCORING 107.0 73.0 (68%) 34.0 (32%) REBOUNDS 41.1 26.3 (64%) 14.8 (36%) ASSISTS 25.0 16.7 (67%) 8.3 (33%) MINUTES 243.4 163.5 (67%) 79.9 (33%)

*--*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

KEY BENCH CONTRIBUTIONS

PLAYER: COMMENT

KOBE BRYANT: Third on team in scoring at 17.3 a game

DEREK FISHER: Leads team in assists per minute

CORIE BLOUNT: Second to Shaq in rebounds per minute

SEAN ROOKS: Name a better (or other) third-string center

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Something in Reserve

A look at the Laker bench:

* JON BARRY. He hasn’t been needed much to play the point, for which he and the Lakers are probably equally grateful, given his inexperience there. So he gets his minutes at shooting guard. Coach Del Harris likes to use his energy and three-point shooting skills to try to erase deficits, but lately Harris also seems to be trying to use Barry when the Lakers are ahead.

* MARIO BENNETT. Think fans love Laker blowouts? Not as much as a 12th man waiting for time. Lanky and athletic, Bennett is a success story simply in sticking with the club. He sat out almost all of last season, rather than playing in the CBA, and overcame two knee operations before that.

* CORIE BLOUNT. Harris told him from the start, “You rebound, you play.” Blount has rebounded, filling a void left when Travis Knight signed with the Boston Celtics. So guess who’s on pace to set a career high for minutes played?

* KOBE BRYANT. He’s supplying a consistent scoring punch off the bench, something the Lakers didn’t have last season. Sometimes it’s a knockout punch--he had 27 and 30 points in consecutive weekend games. If he continues anywhere near the current pace, the Lakers won’t have to worry too much about the marketing push for sixth man of the year.

* ELDEN CAMPBELL. He remains a member in good standing of the Bench Mob, even though he has been in the opening lineup for 15 of his 21 appearances. That’s because he is merely keeping the starting spot warm for Shaquille O’Neal.

* DEREK FISHER. His shooting has improved, which should help keep defenses honest. Now, they can’t play him only for the drive or the pass. After dropping to third-string point guard a few times last season, when Bryant was auditioned there, Fisher now gets all the time as backup point guard.

* SEAN ROOKS. It may be a back-handed compliment, but he’s the best third-string center in the league. He’s better than most backups, actually, but won’t get the chance to prove it here unless Campbell is injured. In the meantime, he will remain as an insurance policy-trade possibility.