He Wants Them to Be Like Mike

Among the issues for the Lakers--and there are plenty through three games of the Western Conference finals--is the disparity in play at point guard, where Mike Bibby is getting the better of Derek Fisher and Lindsey Hunter.

While Bibby has averaged 21 points and six assists and has been the competitive conscience of the Sacramento Kings, Phil Jackson is still searching for the correct Fisher-Hunter blend.

Fisher, who was so strong in last season’s playoffs, has not shot well and has not stayed close enough to Tony Parker of San Antonio or Bibby.

Though he slowly has increased Hunter’s playing time, Jackson said Fisher gets the benefit of the doubt.

“Fish has the element of familiarity of how we play together and how we run our offense,” he said. “He’s a critical player for us in his toughness, his ability to come up with the loose ball, things like that. And, his shooting, though he’s not shooting well right now, have all been elements that we’ve enjoyed as a player from him.

“I’m the kind of guy, I’m going to live with the people who have done good jobs for me in the past. I’m going to give Fish first crack in the game [Sunday], but we’ll make changes as the game goes along. It’s his job. It’s his responsibility to find a way to do this. He had a hell of a struggle against [Allen] Iverson last year in the finals, yet he found a way to be very effective. We have great faith that he’s going to find a way to survive it.”

Asked Saturday where he thought Fisher’s head was, Rick Fox laughed and said, “Still on his shoulders. Still attached to his body, and still confident he can have an effect on this round of the playoffs. He’s a confident basketball player. I’ve been around him enough to know he’s going to do a lot of positive things for us. Right now, his disjointedness has to do with the fact that we’re all disjointed. It’s not one individual that’s struggled. When our offense isn’t executing the way it should be, we all look horrible.”

*

When the Lakers won big games earlier in the playoffs--Game 3 in Portland for one, Games 4 and 5 against San Antonio--they talked a lot about their core players leading the fourth-quarter charges.

On Friday night, Fox, Fisher and Robert Horry--those core players--combined to play three minutes in the fourth quarter after collectively shooting six for 23 from the field.

Devean George, Brian Shaw and Hunter got those minutes instead, and scored 18 points between them.

“They were rolling,” Horry said. “If the team is rolling, I don’t care who you have on the floor, you let them keep playing.”

*

There were two pieces of good news for Kobe Bryant on Saturday morning. One, he claimed, his stomach was better.

Two, he said, “I didn’t play as bad as I thought I did. It didn’t look that bad on film, as far as staying in the flow of the game and getting good looks. It’s just a matter of going into the next game and knocking those shots down.”