Jackson Finds It Difficult to Get Proper Read on Team

Facing the Lakers’ five-day all-star break, with a zigzagging, six-game, nine-day trip set to start on Tuesday, Coach Phil Jackson said he was generally pleased with his team so far, but still didn’t have a 100% feel for its moods.

“Inconsistent, I would say, is the most glaring thing,” Jackson said after Wednesday’s home victory over Minnesota.

“It’s a team I’m not really capable of reading well yet, saying, ‘Oh, they’re really ready to play this game.’ Or, ‘They’re not ready to play this game.’

“It’s hard for me to judge which level I can really push them to on a day-to-day basis. This team still doesn’t really have a mood that I can really read.”

The Lakers’ next practice will be in Chicago on Monday, a day before Jackson’s first coaching matchup with the Bulls in Chicago since he left after the 1997-98 season.

By the time the Lakers return home, they will have reached the Feb. 24 trade deadline, and their new El Segundo headquarters/practice site is expected to be ready for them.

Jackson said the players’ adjustment to his triangle offense has gone about as well as could be expected, although, interestingly, he did not mention Glen Rice, subject of rampant trade talk, in his evaluations.

“I think their attitude’s good toward the triangle,” Jackson said. “They’re experimenting with it, even though it takes them a little bit out of their game. I’m real pleased.

“We’ve got a couple guys out there that are doing a very good job with it. Rick Fox has a feel for it. Ron Harper, of course, knows it and he’s doing a good job. Derek Fisher has a real good energy for that kind of an offense. And Brian Shaw coming off the bench does a real good job with it right now.

“Kobe [Bryant is] still experimenting with the guard position, getting a lot of assists, bringing a lot of energy to it, and learning really how to play at the top of the floor. He’s done a good job.”