On the Day After, O’Neal Is Not Talkative

Shaquille O’Neal plodded across the practice floor Monday morning, his eyes dead ahead, his expression flat.

The world’s most approachable 7-foot-1, 330-pound man slowed for no one, certainly not for reporters, who might have asked him to relive 14 free-throw misfires in 19 tries and, when Sunday night’s game was being decided, his place on the bench.

After the Lakers beat the Dallas Mavericks, 99-97, O’Neal appeared torn between the team victory and his personal failure to contribute in the final five minutes.

Even Phil Jackson, the adept communicator, avoided O’Neal on the morning after.

“I didn’t feel like Shaq was a talk-able person today,” Jackson said. “He just was on time. He wasn’t in a mood. He was obviously upset at his performance last night. I’m just going to let him deal with it himself a little bit.”

O’Neal is shooting 38.9% from the line. He is a career 53.4% shooter.

“He’s been working on his free throws,” Jackson said. “His shooting coach was in about three weeks ago. It’s about time for the guy to come back in and get back into it a little bit. So I’m sure he’s thinking about that, applying himself again, doing some more training in that direction to get that stroke back.”

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The Lakers are little more than two good players and “a band of merry minimums,” and one of those good players isn’t skilled enough to be on the floor in the fourth quarter of close games, Dallas owner Mark Cuban said.

On his way out of town after the Laker victory, Cuban offered those and other insights Monday morning on Jim Rome’s syndicated radio show, based in Los Angeles.

“We know Phil’s paying attention,” Cuban said. “He’s got Shaq, he’s got Kobe [Bryant] and he’s got his band of merry minimum [-salaried players]. That’s a tough thing to do. You’re one sprained ankle away from a nightmare season. Shaq wasn’t on the court last night. He’s five for 19 [from the free-throw line].

“Now all of a sudden if Kobe doesn’t catch on fire, what are they going to do? They’ve got one other guy in double figures. They have a great team. They’re reigning NBA champions. But let’s put an asterisk next to that one because it’s hard to win with only two guys.”

Jackson, of course, has won seven championships with “only two guys,” six of them in Chicago. And, darn it, he’s the one who gets to assign the asterisks around here.

“Ron Harper had a decent game; he put up 11 points,” Cuban said. “But there was no one else that even showed up.”

Maybe it was the open microphone that intoxicated him so.

“It’s not nuclear war, right?” Cuban told Rome. “So it’s not like I felt threatened at all. But at the same time, a lot of these guys think, ‘I’ve been in the league, I’ve got the rings, he’s going to back down.’ Back down from what? He came out with this verbal sparring like he’s a first grader. . . . If he wants to play a game of intellectual jousting or verbal sparring, bring it on. It was simple, like being called names by a first grader.”

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Bryant nosed into the NBA scoring lead by a few hundredths of a point over Detroit’s Jerry Stackhouse, 28.44-28.38.

Bryant said he wouldn’t necessarily chase the scoring title, but he wouldn’t ignore it, either.

“You guys know I’m competitive,” he said.

“If I’m in the hunt for something, I’m out to win it.

“That’s the reality of it.”

TONIGHT

vs. Philadelphia, 7:30

Fox Sports Net, TBS

* Site--Staples Center.

* Radio--KLAC-AM (570).

* Records--Lakers 13-5, 76ers 14-3.

* Record vs. 76ers (1999-2000)--2-0.

* Update--Allen Iverson is averaging four fewer points than he did last season, and the perception that he is more team driven has turned the 76ers into a more content group. . . . Guard Eric Snow, who could draw Kobe Bryant as his defensive assignment, is averaging a career-high 12.6 points. . . . Theo Ratliff, at 6 feet 10, leads the league in blocked shots. . . . The 76ers won their first 10 games.