Trip Has Lakers on Road to Nowhere

Documenting the decline, Part VI:

The Lakers finished a reverse three-peat Tuesday, panting and perspiring their way to a 93-83 loss to the Vancouver Grizzlies at General Motors Place, the Lakers’ third loss in three days and three cities.

A trip, indeed, all the way the down to the Lakers’ lowest regular-season ebb in a long, long time.

On Sunday, it was Seattle and Shaquille O’Neal’s postgame blast at the officials.

On Monday, it was Denver and a fourth-quarter wilt.

On Tuesday, it was Vancouver, with the Lakers bone tired and unable to muster the energy to even force the Grizzlies to play a decent game.

Today marks the entrance of Dennis Rodman, who might have a few faults but at least was not a part of these last three days.

Rodman, to save them.

“He’ll be like fresh water,” said Kobe Bryant, wandering in the desert. “He’ll definitely give us a burst of energy.”

After the game, there was a 21-minute, players-only meeting, with the coaches and training staff left to cool their heels outside the door with reporters.

“We’re bleeding as a team,’ said guard Derek Harper, who called the meeting and could be heard through the door. “Someone had to try to put a Band-Aid on it.

“You don’t lose to Denver and Vancouver and bring it in, say ‘break!’ and everybody goes their . . . own ways.”

On getting loud during the meeting, Harper said: “It’s not about yelling, it’s about trying to get a point across.”

This was the Lakers’ first loss to the Grizzlies ever, after winning the first 12 matchups, through sickness and health and long trips and injured starters.

Afterward, what was left for the Lakers, who had the excuse of exhaustion but got themselves into this position by coughing up the first two games of the trip and falling to a .500 record?

It is all about the spirit of 6-6?

“Short season, long season, middle season, you never want to lose three in a row,” Coach Del Harris said. “We haven’t shot the ball well in several games now.”

The Lakers made only 35.4% of their shots, missing open shots throughout.

“We’re getting the looks we want, but we’re just not making them,” Harris said.

This game wasn’t about emotion, it was about exhaustion.

There was the poignancy of O’Neal (26 points and 10 rebounds) slashing and crashing and trying to single-handedly sustain his enervated team, then flaring up in frustration with the game out of hand and Bryant (Big Country) Reeves perched on his back after a rebound battle .

“We will turn it around.” O’Neal said.

There was the blank stare of Bryant, enduring his first aimless game of the season, and unable to do much on rubbery legs.

And, finally, there was the crushing symbolism of the Lakers’ tossing away one of their final chances, at 87-81 with 65 seconds left.

At the end of a game-long series of Laker foul-ups, Harper and Eddie Jones didn’t communicate on an inbound pass, leaving Harper’s pass bounding to midcourt and out of bounds.

This followed quite a first half.

Half-hearted, half-witted, half-disgusting and half-amusing.

By the end of this particular and peculiar 24-minute span of action, the score was tied, 41-41, poetic justice for the go-nowhere pace and directionless play.

The second quarter was the hardest to watch--the weary Lakers had no legs, and the young Grizzlies had the legs but nowhere to go.

In that period, the Lakers made only six of 16 field-goal tries (37.5%) and Vancouver managed to make only five of 21 (21.6%).

Grizzly forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim (15 of his 28 points) and O’Neal (12 points and three blocked shots) were the only two who seemed to have anything near their “A” games going, at least in contrast to the rest of the stumbling.

An obviously drawn Bryant, for instance, was only three for nine in the half, scoring seven points and committing three turnovers.

The Lakers committed 10 fouls in the second quarter; the Grizzlies eight, and they combined to miss nine of 21 free-throw attempts in the second period.

By the third quarter, all the players looked exhausted, frustrated, and appeared to be grinding out the inelegant end-to-end action.

“This team is nowhere near where we should be,” Harper said.

“Before you can talk about being a champion, you have to prepare to be that. Obviously, we have a lot of work to do.”

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Lakers Through 12

Comparing the Lakers after 12 games this season to 12 games last season:

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Category 1997-98 1999 Record 11-1 6-5 Points/game 109.8 97.5 Opponents points/game 96.7 93.6 Rebounds 42.3 45.9 Opponent rebounds 42.8 42.1 Assists 25.9 22.5 Opponent assists 23.3 20.6 Turnovers 14.6 15.2 Opponent turnovers 17.6 13.2 Field goal % .484 .448 Opponent field goal % .436 .419

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