It Is Time to Stop Talking About a Title

If the Lakers can play “about as well as we can play,” (in the words of their coach), finally get their fastbreak on track, dominate the boards, get the ball in their new go-to guy’s hands for a good look at a game-winning shot and still lose, it could be time to scale back those expectations a bit.

They might not be as mediocre as their 3-3 record, but right now they’re just another good team and not one that should be mentioned in the same sentence as a championship.

They’re 1-2 at home and 0-2 in these made-for-NBC Sunday showdowns after their 101-99 Valentine’s Day loss to the Indiana Pacers. As television programming goes, “Frasier” has proven more worthy of replacing “Seinfeld” than the “The Lake Show” has been at replacing the Chicago Bulls’ “Dynasty.”

Right now there’s more drama and intrigue off the court. The buzz at the Great Western Forum was all about a guy who isn’t even a member of the team (and if all were right with the world, wouldn’t be). No, the eccentric rebounder didn’t show up, not even to sit in the stands.

But another possible future Laker did appear. Guard B.J. Armstrong, whose Charlotte Hornets are in town early for their Tuesday game against the Lakers, came to the Forum and spent a lot of time hanging out by the locker rooms afterward. Armstrong is part of a proposed trade that would bring Hornet shooting star Glen Rice to the Lakers in exchange for Eddie Jones and Elden Campbell.

Shaquille O’Neal even called Armstrong aside to ask, “What have you heard about the trade?”

If the man who stands in the middle of the Lakers in so many ways doesn’t know what’s going on with this team, how can we?

It’s time to make decisions about this ballclub, one way or another. If Jerry Buss insists on bringing Dennis Rodman aboard, set a deadline for him to sign a contract, get it done and let the sideshow begin. Otherwise move on with life, let everyone get back to business and save Jerry West the aggravation of hearing Rodman questions daily.

If they’re going to trade Jones and Campbell, get it over with or else come out and say they’re not going anywhere. The constant speculation hasn’t helped their production. Jones had 12 points on 4-of-12 shooting Sunday, and this was one of his better games of the season. Campbell had nine rebounds, but only three points.

Rice would provide the outside shooter the Lakers so desperately need, but they don’t know how healthy his surgically repaired elbow is, when he’d be ready to play and if they can reach an agreement on a contract extension with him. Hardly a quick-fix solution.

If the Lakers would be willing to make such a major move, they might as well go through a complete overhaul. Declare Shaq and Kobe Bryant off-limits, then start putting together new pieces.

If not, then chill with the demands to bring home a title this year, keep this group intact and wait.

No, three years is not enough time to deem the experiment a failure and pull the plug. The Pacers have been standing on the threshold since 1994 and still haven’t crossed, but you don’t hear any cries to break them up. It’s still Reggie Miller, Rik Smits, Mark Jackson and the Davises.

The Lakers have plenty of pieces. They just can’t put them all together.

The Lakers threw just about everything they had at the Pacers. O’Neal contributed numbers above even his own stellar averages with 36 points and 17 rebounds. They made five of 16 three-pointers. They outrebounded Indiana, 48-33.

In the third quarter they shot 55%, Derek Fisher had his best stretch of the season and had the team fastbreaking and alley-ooping. But while they were making all the highlight plays, the Pacers went to the free-throw line 12 times and made 11. The Lakers couldn’t extend their lead past eight, and then it dwindled.

“I was telling [my teammates] when they made their run, with all that dunking and whooping and hollering, at the end of the quarter we were only down two points,” said Miller, who broke all kinds of Laker hearts with 26 points. “‘Guys, just keep it alive. We keep it close, we’ll win.”’

That’s the way teams like the Pacers and the Utah Jazz feel against the Lakers, because they know when it’s time to execute in the fourth quarter the Lakers can’t match them.

That’s the one thing no amount of trades or roster changes can bring about, because it’s a matter of experience. The Lakers haven’t taken the next step.

Apparently, they’ve regressed.

“We’re not as good as last year’s team right now,” Rick Fox said. “ But you guys know that.”

Of course, last year’s team had Fox in the starting lineup. This year’s doesn’t, and won’t as long as Jones is still here and Bryant does so well as the starting small forward.

Fox said he’s cool with coming off the bench--”As long as we’re winning,” he said.

“If we don’t win, I have a problem, because we had a good team last year.”

There are different agendas in every corner of the locker room, with no easy answers in sight.

Perhaps if Bryant’s last-second three-pointer went in, they all get pushed to the back and there are no questions asked.

But every problem wouldn’t be solved. When Armstrong was with the Bulls he used to say, “Winning covers a multitude of sins.”

Perhaps he’ll teach that one to the Lakers after he joins them.