Almost Time for Horry

In the last 10 days, the Lakers have started four power forwards, indecision and hunches Coach Phil Jackson said could carry into the playoffs.

Since Mark Madsen’s start March 30, Robert Horry, Slava Medvedenko and Samaki Walker have all had their turns, Horry’s coming Tuesday night against Dallas, as Jackson has searched for the hot hand.

The wide belief is that Horry will be Horry again come the playoffs, which begin next weekend, except Horry, at 32, is about to conclude the worst shooting season of his career.

“I don’t look at the numbers,” he said. “I’m not shooting it any different for me.”

He must assume Jackson will come to him at some point and pile on the minutes, particularly as the postseason arrives with matchups of Dirk Nowitzki, Chris Webber or Tim Duncan.

“I just think Rob is not dedicated to scoring or involved in that being a personal mark of his playing in the ballgame,” Jackson said. “He bypasses shots. Sometimes he takes more three-point shots than he does two-point shots in the course of a game. So, he’s a facilitator and in many ways a defensive player. We know that when it gets critical his shooting percentage is awfully good. That’s what’s important.”

About to enter his 13th postseason in 13 seasons as a head coach, Jackson said he’d never had a position so unsettled this late in the regular season. He also said he was unconcerned.

“Possibly, I’ll go right into the playoffs and during the playoffs itself,” he said of his power forward rotation. “I don’t think it is [troubling] for the team.... I’ll talk to Rob and see how he feels about starting at some point before the season is over.”

*

Tex Winter, for one, was sorry to see Jerry Krause go. Vilified in Chicago for dismantling the Bulls -- Jackson, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen left after the 1997-98 season, after six championships, and the Bulls have been terrible since -- Krause resigned as general manager Monday because, he said, of health reasons.

Winter said he wouldn’t be in the NBA were it not for Krause, whose reputation was destroyed in the aftermath of the 1990s.

“In the eyes of a lot of people, I’m sure it has,” Winter said. “Not in mine. I was one of the few at the time who thought it was time to break the Bulls up. It could very definitely been handled differently, not only from Jerry’s side, but from the players’ and the coaches’ sides.”