Jackson Sending Defensive Messages

The theme running through the Laker organization these days is defense, primarily because there are exactly four NBA teams giving up more points a game than the Lakers and 12 NBA teams allowing a worse shooting percentage.

For that reason, Coach Phil Jackson said, Tyronn Lue played all of crunch time in their narrow victory against Vancouver on Monday, and Isaiah Rider played none of it, among other rotation decisions.

Jackson is riding them pretty hard over the half-hearted defense.

“There’s an old saying,” Jackson said. “ ‘You can only throw so much . . . at the wall and hope it sticks.’ Right?”

Actually, that sounded new.

“Some of it’s got to stick,” he said. “So as much . . . as I give them, some of it’s got to stick at some level. In that regard, I think they got the idea. We’re not going to be satisfied with leading the league in scoring and not having the ability to play defense.”

Jackson has railed mostly about their transition defense. The Lakers have given up more easy baskets in 37 games this season, it seems, than they did all of last season.

“We’re running the court right and doing a lot of good things on [the offensive] end of the court,” he said. “But getting back the other direction, it’s like we’re carrying an anchor.”

From atop an exercise machine, Rick Fox peered down, grinned and said, “Hey, anybody tell you we’re a good defensive team?”

Not recently.

“Well, we’re not going to accept the fact we’re a poor defensive team,” he said. “This is our self-fulfilling prophecy.”

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Rider and Kobe Bryant played 20 minutes of one-on-one after most of the players left the court. As Shaquille O’Neal, who snubbed the media for a sixth consecutive day, practiced his free throws with personal coach Ed Palubinskas in one corner of the gym, Bryant won two games and Rider won one.

“We hadn’t done that in a long time,” Rider said. “It was for both of us. I’m a little tired, a little out of shape and I know Kobe’s going to go hard, so I asked him to play a little one-on-one today. It was good.”

Rider is averaging only 7.8 points a game, but in his past three games has scored 44 points in 57 minutes and shot 19 for 28 (67.9%) from the field.

His defense and some turnovers got him removed from Monday’s game, Jackson said.

“I understand where everyone is coming from on that,” Rider said. “The thing I have a problem with is that [Michael] Dickerson had [26] points. I think seven or eight of them were off me. It’s the NBA. Guys are going to score. Guys are going to do well. My thing, I’ve never been a weak link on defense. But the more I play, the more rhythm I get.

“No excuses. But the more I’m out there and the more I get into a flow, the better I’ll be all around. I mean, I didn’t think I was weak enough defensively to take me out. Like I said, Dickerson had [26] points and they sure as hell weren’t all on me.”

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Assuming New York Knick center Marcus Camby does not appeal his five-game suspension for trying to sucker punch Danny Ferry, he’ll sit out the Super Bowl day game against the Lakers at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 28.

“Well, he’s a good player,” Jackson said. “They’ll miss him. Big games he plays well.”

The incident reminded Jackson of another, years ago. Chicago Bull assistant Johnny Bach tried to save coach Doug Collins from an enraged Rick Mahorn. Jackson said that Mahorn tore tendons in Bach’s hands. That reminded him of yet another adage.

Said Jackson: “Don’t grab anybody who’s going to tear your arms off.”