Youthful Lakers Show Their Elders Little Respect

What do you call a battle-tested roster that includes so many respected veterans, led by three of the top 50 players in NBA history?

Old.

Hardening arteries, wearing the colors of the Houston Rockets, met impetuous youth, dressed as the Lakers Friday night, in a game proved that if experience is important, too much of it may not always be a good thing.

Take the feature matchup of the night, Mr. Impetuous himself, 20-year-old Kobe Bryant, getting a rare start at forward, vs. 33-year-old Scottie Pippen, whose signing was supposed to restore the aging Rockets to contention.

Pippen will have to start leading them back into contention Sunday night at Golden State because Friday, he missed 11 of his first 12 shots--actually, he missed eight of the 12, and got three of them blocked, two by Bryant.

Pippen wound up shooting four for 18 and Bryant outscored him, 25-10.

Was this any way to treat a bunch of old guys?

The Rockets opened the season, on the road, playing the first of five games in seven nights, in four cities, in two time zones.

This will be followed by four days off . . . then 10 games in 14 days in seven cities, in three time zones, in two countries.

You may think this will be hard on the geezers. The way the geezers look at it, it will be harder on everyone else.

“I don’t think anybody’s comfortable,” said soon-to-be-40-year-old Eddie Johnson before the game. “If there’s someone [who] tells you that they’re comfortable playing with each other, after two weeks, they’re lying. No one’s comfortable.

“Now, are we further ahead than most teams? I would like to think we are, because of our experience. But it normally takes me three, three-and-a-half, four weeks, to get my timing right. And I think most guys will tell you that. And that’s training camp.

“So guys are still trying to find themselves but we are far ahead of a lot of teams, because of our experience.”

Well, there’s experience and there’s experience.

Take Charles Barkley, starting his 15th season, about to turn 35, in superb shape at a svelte--for his cinder block body--255 pounds. It’s good that Barkley lasted this long because it took him this long . . . and several pointed hints from his friend and idol, Michael Jordan . . . to come ready.

Jordan even zinged Barkley at his farewell news conference, joking that Barkley would never win because he was never committed to winning.

You think Jordan has no more challenges left in basketball? Having left the game, he is now committed to making sure Barkley is committed.

“I agree,” Barkley said before the game. “I have to get more dedicated. I have to get in better shape because I did not take care of myself the last couple years.

“That’s something we talked about all summer, ‘cause he told me, ‘This is your best chance. Get yourself in great shape, get healthy and I like your chances.’

“I’ll give you an example how much he means to me. He was the first person who called me today. People talk about our friendship--man, that guy’s like a brother to me. Obviously, he’s like the greatest player that ever lived but it gives me great pride and satisfaction to know he would take time out of his schedule, to be the first person to call me this morning, to wish me luck.”

On behalf of the rest of the NBA, a hearty thank you to Jordan for not mentioning anything about getting in shape to Barkley five or 10 years ago, when it might have made a difference.

As it was, the aged Barkley wore the young Lakers out, knocking Corie Blount and Travis Knight out of the way like tenpins (Robert Horry was in Houston, where his wife was giving birth, or Barkley would have converted him too, like the 2-4-7 in bowling.)

The Lakers opened a 12-point lead in the second quarter, but Barkley led the Rockets on a 19-4 run.

The Lakers went up by seven the third quarter, but Barkley led the Rockets back within one point, starting the fourth.

However, the Lakers spurted again and for several minutes, Barkley couldn’t answer, firing 20-footers instead, a suggestion he had flamed out. By the time Rudy Tomjanovich got Barkley a rest and back in--he would finish with 31 points and 15 rebounds--the Lakers were safe.

On the other hand, who cares?

“The championship isn’t going to be won tonight or the next month,” said Barkley before the game. “I’ve only got two goals for the season, for us to get better and everybody stay healthy.”

Well, they’re in trouble then, because 38-year-old Antoine Carr has already had a knee scoped, which is why the Rockets, as well as the Lakers, are interested in (shudder) Dennis Rodman.

Rodman is 37 but, as the Lakers could tell you, he’s young at heart.